"Some presidents like our current one is, fine with playing patsy for China. I am not. Never have been. If China invades Taiwan and trade stops between the two countries, we would be screwed. Held over a barrel. Globalization has been bad for our national commerce and bad for our national defense."
Well, that did not take long. Yesterday, President Elect Trump said tariffs were on the way! Aimed at China, Canada and Mexico. Why? To change behavior. China, for allowing fentanyl to come into our country via Mexico; Canada for not controlling illegal immigration, thereby allowing criminal aliens to come into our country over our northern border; and Mexico, for being the major pipeline for criminal aliens coming over our southern border. Right now, Trump is thinking about 25% for each country.
Tariffs? Where did that crazy idea come from? Trump? No, George Washington. He imposed a 5% tariff on most goods coming into our country. Why? Revenue. We had no income tax back then. Actually, we had no income tax until 1913. Before then, our treasury was stocked with monies, much of which came from tariffs.
Is Trump off base on this idea? Nope - not a bit. Tariffs are used for changing behaviors as well as raising money. In case anyone has not noticed as of late, we are getting our socks taxed off via our income tax system. Plus - our trade deficits are a mess. Now to cure those deficits and get more manufacturing back in our country, significant tariffs are a good place to start. There is however a downside - things will cost more money. But to have American products made by Americans, many feel those extra costs would be worth it.
Remember one important thing - China is not the only country who is taking advantage of us in trade. Our "friends" in Europe are also. Our trade deficit with Europe is over $130B. True, that is small compared to our trade deficit with China, which is over $350B. That has got to stop. This globalization thing has worked out for some countries, but not ours. We need the slogan "Made in America" to really mean something once again.
Some presidents like our current one is, fine with playing patsy for China. I am not. Never have been. If China invades Taiwan and trade stops between the two countries, we would be screwed. Held over a barrel. Globalization has been bad for our national commerce and bad for our national defense.
Tariffs are coming folks. Get ready for them. Hopefully, a significant reduction in our income tax will accompany them.
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