A Step Away From China - Is Trump Really Wrong?

[Speedwell]

...let us know how that works out.

Maybe it will make up for some of the manufactured goods China will no longer buy from us.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Reality check: U.S. manufacturing jobs at 1940s levels

 

[wing2000]

Reality check: U.S. manufacturing jobs at 1940s levels

Noting your cited article is from 2017. Unless my memory is off, I don't believe tariffs against China were in place then.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Chinese yuan falls to weakest level against dollar since 2010

 

[civilwarbuff]

Noting your cited article is from 2017. Unless my memory is off, I don't believe tariffs against China were in place then.

Yeah, it was a long time ago....ancient history....all of 1.5 years ago......

 

[Speedwell]

Yeah, it was a long time ago....ancient history....all of 1.5 years ago......

Manufacturing jobs are not the same as manufacturing output. Increasing domestic manufacturing output through tariffs will not produce a corresponding increase in manufacturing jobs.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Manufacturing jobs are not the same as manufacturing output. Increasing domestic manufacturing output through tariffs will not produce a corresponding increase in manufacturing jobs.

Never said otherwise....neither does the article make such a claim....

 

[Speedwell]

Never said otherwise....neither does the article make such a claim....

Yes, you're usually very careful that way.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Not sure why the 1940s are supposed to impress us. There were a lot fewer people then. We're still a third lower than the high mark. (And there were a lot fewer people in 1979, too)

 

[civilwarbuff]

Not sure why the 1940s are supposed to impress us. There were a lot fewer people then. We're still a third lower than the high mark. (And there were a lot fewer people in 1979, too)

Yep, still a long way to go but at least the trend appears to be up which is a big change over the previous 30 years or so......

 

[civilwarbuff]

Yes, you're usually very careful that way.

I let that facts speak for themselves....

 

[Speedwell]

I let that facts speak for themselves....

And that is why you chose a graph of manufacturing jobs rather than manufacturing output. In fact, the contribution of manufacturing to GDP has been about constant throughout that same period.

 

[civilwarbuff]

And that is why you chose a graph of manufacturing jobs rather than manufacturing output. In fact, the contribution of manufacturing to GDP has been about constant throughout that same period.

Actually I didn't choose the graph the author of the article did......

 

[Belk]

I will give you a big one....China does not allow foreign majority ownership of its corporation whereas we allow freedom to all countries to do so here.....

OK. Why is that a trade issue and how is Trumps current program making it better?

 

[Belk]

They're not paying their fair share in NATO defense spending, for one.

That does not seem to be something handled in our trade agreements. Is there something specific to our trade agreements that you would care to highlight?

 

[rambot]

Chinese yuan falls to weakest level against dollar since 2010

They control their currency. Their economy has been slowing for a few years. Lower value for the yuan means better value for trade Partners

 

[wing2000]

Yeah, it was a long time ago....ancient history....all of 1.5 years ago......

My apologies. I was under the assumption that tariffs would need to be in place prior to establishing any pattern of jobs moving from China to the US.

 

[friend of]

We are just a greedy, gluttonous nation when it comes to getting stuff and that, by its very nature, means that we're pretty much always going to be importing more than we export.

Our poor have microwaves and flat screen TV's and the latest cell phone gadgets and homes and houses filled with hundreds of gadgets. Why wouldn't we have trade imbalances as we have?

American companies were FORCED to move over there to provide US consumers with an endless diet of cheap consumables

Maybe access to cheap items that fuel our insatiable gluttonous greed for hoarding isn't as virtuous a thing as we've made it out to be? What if American made items are more likely to be of good quality, less likely to be planned obsolete by cheap Chinese labour, and not need to be replaced as often as the former? And maybe creating jobs for Americans is the impetus here. I welcome US adapting a more European quality to their items, appliances and goods.

When she sees that she's lost a discussion she just zings off to some other topic of discussion

While defense spending is not directly related to the economy, both can be connected to the burgeoning US national debt. US has been getting ripped off in trade but also in international defense spending. Closely allied nations have not been paying their weight in NATO. Trump is here to plug spending leaks and reform the way that the US, and indeed the world, does business, and to ensure US superiority on the world stage. If you don't like that idea, move to China and open up a dollarstore.

 

[friend of]

So no, I don't have a clue why President Trump feels some dire need to throw tariffs around the world. His whole gambit is that he wants us to believe that all the nations of the earth have been taking advantage of us. Really? Do you believe that? Do you honestly believe that America hasn't held its own in international relations? We've got great unemployment and great GDP, but somehow every nation on the earth has been taking advantage of us. If that were the case, wouldn't we see some signs in our economy and our GDP that would show that we are suffering?

Believe it or not, the US-China tariff war is about more than US getting a fair deal for its consumer goods. It's about countering the Belt and Road initiative, which grossly favours China.

 

[civilwarbuff]

OK. Why is that a trade issue and how is Trumps current program making it better?

You wanted an example and I gave it to you. If you disagree with it just say so and why........