re: #62 Gus 802

More BS from the crazies in the administration.

The remainder of the article suggests that this is an end run around tariff restrictions. China is refusing to go along with any sort of carbon tax, the US is not happy because this tilts the playing field much too far in China’s favor, and the low-hanging fruit - imposition of tariffs on Chinese imports - violates all sorts of international trade agreements and laws. So they’re cooking up a way to slap a tariff on Chinese goods that isn’t really a tariff.

The end results are the same - higher prices for Chinese goods. And the goal is the same, too - forcing China to bargain on carbon caps with the threat of making their imports less attractive.

Frankly, I think an alternative approach might be more successful - edcuate Americans on where their dollars are going, and what the departure of dollars from the country means in terms of the livelyhood of Americans. Walk through any department store and examine the product tags; it’s difficult to find anything at all that isn’t made in China. Of those items that are made elsewhere, they more than likely contain components made in China.

And increasingly, the same is true at the supermarket. The US now imports vast amounts of raw foodstuffs from China.

The benefit? Cheaper prices for a huge range of foods and goods. The downside? American producers lose, causing job losses and a decrease of money circulating through the local economy.

Tariffs - of whatever sort - ought to be a last resort in a market-oriented economy. Appealing to the populace to examine their buying habits would potentially have a faster, deeper impact on this problem. I don’t really have a problem shelling out another quarter for a box of spaghetti if the large-scale return for that added cost is lower unemployment and greater overall local wealth. At least that extra quarter goes to a local merchant, and thence through additional American middlemen. Tariffs come straight out of my pocket and go straight into the government’s pockets. They accomplish the same end, but not as efficiently and without the added benefit to American businesses.