Did Trump supporters know they’d be paying for his tariffs on Chinese goods?

TLK Valentine

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I have long been in support of measures to reduce the consumption of Chinese goods. I don’t shop at Walmart and I try to avoid shoes and clothes made there (it’s difficult though!)

I’m at a loss as to why Trump makes his own clothing in China and has not attempted any kind of “buy American” campaign, if he truly wants to reduce our dependence on Chinese goods and increase manufacturing in the U.S.

Among Donald's numerous other charms, we can add hypocrisy...
 
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Personally, I’m not opposed to measures that incentivize buying American, and discourage buying goods from China.

But did Trump supporters know and understand that they would be paying more for imports due to his trade policies, or did they think China was going to pay the tariffs?
Hard to say, but there was no secret made about it.

I'm curious, though, as to how we could "incentivize buying American" and "discourage buying goods from China"--without paying more for those goods, as happens with the imposition of tariffs.
 
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HTacianas

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I have long been in support of measures to reduce the consumption of Chinese goods. I don’t shop at Walmart and I try to avoid shoes and clothes made there (it’s difficult though!)

I’m at a loss as to why Trump makes his own clothing in China and has not attempted any kind of “buy American” campaign, if he truly wants to reduce our dependence on Chinese goods and increase manufacturing in the U.S.

It's not to reduce consumption of Chinese goods. It's meant to leverage China into trading fairly with the US.
 
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Steve Petersen

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I understand the reasons for Nixon/Kissinger and Chinese Engagement. If things can be worked out in the marketplace rather than the battlefield, that is nothing but good IMO.

If we can create a world in which there is disincentive to war on your trading partners, that is desirable.
 
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Sparagmos

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Hard to say, but there was no secret made about it.

I'm curious, though, as to how we could "incentivize buying American" and "discourage buying goods from China"--without paying more for those goods, as happens with the imposition of tariffs.
There are other ways but tariffs are the most obvious and logical way, IMO. I’m also for public/peer pressure. And heavily taxing businesses like wal-mart that get everything from China.
 
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Sparagmos

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It's not to reduce consumption of Chinese goods. It's meant to leverage China into trading fairly with the US.
I’m not an expert, but in my efforts to understand the trade war I’m learning that economists don’t necessarily think that China isn’t “trading fairly.” That its normal for a rich country to import far more than we export because rich countries consume so much more.
 
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Sparagmos

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I'm certain that everyone knows how tariffs work. They increase prices on imports to deter people from buying them. A person can choose to pay the increased price or look somewhere else.

In the alternative, maybe we should be content with buying cheap goods from China all the while allowing China to place tariffs on American made products to deter the Chinese from buying American.

Chuck Schumer even supports Trump's stance on China for their theft of intellectual property. And he should support him because he represents New York, one of the global centers for intellectual property.

Should Trump supporters, or any American for that matter, support Trump's policies toward China? It is not fallacious to say that we can be on the side of the United States in this or we can be on the side of China. Trump is fighting for fair trade between the US and China. China wants unfair trade that benefits China at the expense of the United States.
Just read this tweet from Trump:

"For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods. These payments are partially responsible for our great economic results. The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday. 325 Billions Dollars," Trump tweeted Sunday.

So looks to me like he believes, or wants people to believe, that China is paying the tariffs and that is somehow boosting the economy already.
 
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HTacianas

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I’m not an expert, but in my efforts to understand the trade war I’m learning that economists don’t necessarily think that China isn’t “trading fairly.” That its normal for a rich country to import far more than we export because rich countries consume so much more.

China places tariffs on US made products to protect their domestic industries. But more importantly in China, and Asia in general, intellectual property rights are not part of their culture. Chinese manufacturers crank out untold numbers of brand name products including everything from Levis jeans to copies of movies and Microsoft Windows. They then sell those counterfeit products at a profit undercutting the patent and trademark holders. That is the sticking point in the negotiations. The Chinese government effectively refuses to adopt Western trademark traditions.
 
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Speedwell

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China places tariffs on US made products to protect their domestic industries. But more importantly in China, and Asia in general, intellectual property rights are not part of their culture. Chinese manufacturers crank out untold numbers of brand name products including everything from Levis jeans to copies of movies and Microsoft Windows. They then sell those counterfeit products at a profit undercutting the patent and trademark holders. That is the sticking point in the negotiations. The Chinese government effectively refuses to adopt Western trademark traditions.
Then why not attack the problem directly? Why not impose tariffs only on Chinese goods which are in violation of US intellectual property laws?
 
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paul1149

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I’m at a loss as to why Trump makes his own clothing in China and has not attempted any kind of “buy American” campaign, if he truly wants to reduce our dependence on Chinese goods and increase manufacturing in the U.S.
For the record, I'm not Donald Trump and neither do I speak for him. But I can easily imagine his reason here being that he as a businessman is not interested in putting himself at a disadvantage to the competition. As long as the rules allow cheap Chinese sourcing, so be it, he's going to play by the rules. But as president he now has the opportunity to change the rules for the long-term good of the nation, and everyone, including his own companies, will have to look elsewhere or pay a little more for their goods, at least until the tariffs might no longer be necessary or viable domestic alternatives arise. I don't see this as hypocrisy.
 
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HTacianas

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Then why not attack the problem directly? Why not impose tariffs only on Chinese goods which are in violation of US intellectual property laws?

Products in violation of intellectual property laws are illegal to import into the US. Customs confiscates and destroys tons of counterfeit goods every year but cannot keep up with it. And it is difficult to enforce patent laws on products manufactured in China but shipped to other countries.

The Chinese government is complicit in trademark violations and refuses to enforce trademark laws but Chinese trademark holders can sue American manufacturers in US courts. It's completely one sided.
 
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essentialsaltes

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Hard to say, but there was no secret made about it.

Except for Trump's numerous inaccurate statements suggesting that China was paying the tariffs.

I'm curious, though, as to how we could "incentivize buying American" …

How to influence buying behavior? Advertising.

032609_buy_american.jpg
 
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TLK Valentine

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Hard to say, but there was no secret made about it.

There's rarely any secret about any of Donald's lies... his followers choose not to see them anyway.

I'm curious, though, as to how we could "incentivize buying American" and "discourage buying goods from China"--without paying more for those goods, as happens with the imposition of tariffs.

Well, rather than artificially inflating the prices using the government, what kind of incentives could we offer US companies to actually make better products?
 
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OldWiseGuy

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I have no problem with tariffs on Chinese goods. My only issue would be that Trump is dragging this trade war out. He should have been more aggressive from the git go.

He's giving China "space to repent". It's a Godly principle.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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It's not to reduce consumption of Chinese goods. It's meant to leverage China into trading fairly with the US.

How dare you hit the nail on the head! Twenty lashes with a wet noodle! :zoro:
 
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But did Trump supporters know and understand that they would be paying more for imports due to his trade policies, or did they think China was going to pay the tariffs?

I’m not sure Trump himself knew.

I’m not an expert, but in my efforts to understand the trade war I’m learning that economists don’t necessarily think that China isn’t “trading fairly.” That its normal for a rich country to import far more than we export because rich countries consume so much more.

China is acting unfairly in some ways, but the trade deficit has nothing to do with it. The trade deficit is just Trump’s proxy target due to his inability to understand and/or articulate the real problem.
 
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Sparagmos

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China places tariffs on US made products to protect their domestic industries. But more importantly in China, and Asia in general, intellectual property rights are not part of their culture. Chinese manufacturers crank out untold numbers of brand name products including everything from Levis jeans to copies of movies and Microsoft Windows. They then sell those counterfeit products at a profit undercutting the patent and trademark holders. That is the sticking point in the negotiations. The Chinese government effectively refuses to adopt Western trademark traditions.
Ah, thanks.
 
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Sparagmos

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For the record, I'm not Donald Trump and neither do I speak for him. But I can easily imagine his reason here being that he as a businessman is not interested in putting himself at a disadvantage to the competition. As long as the rules allow cheap Chinese sourcing, so be it, he's going to play by the rules. But as president he now has the opportunity to change the rules for the long-term good of the nation, and everyone, including his own companies, will have to look elsewhere or pay a little more for their goods, at least until the tariffs might no longer be necessary or viable domestic alternatives arise. I don't see this as hypocrisy.
But he’s supposedly rich enough to buy American and support American manufacturing. We can’t “bring manufacturing jobs back” unless Americans buy American.
 
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