Biden slams Trump over escalating trade war with China
Speaking to reporters during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, the former vice president and front runner in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination charged that Trump has “gone about it all the wrong way.”
Pointing to the president’s decision to raise tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, Biden said that "the only people paying the price are farmers and working people right now.”
Biden’s comments came soon after China’s finance ministry announced that in response to Trump’s moves, it was raising tariffs on a wide swath of American goods and products from 10 percent up to 20-25 percent beginning in June. The latest move by Beijing will hike tariffs on some $60 billion in American goods.
These and other comments tell you exactly where Bidn would be in trade negotiations with China. Give them anything and everything they want with nothing for the US. Very reminiscent of all Dem trade deals and negotiations.
Pointing to the president’s decision to raise tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, Biden said that "the only people paying the price are farmers and working people right now.”
Biden’s comments came soon after China’s finance ministry announced that in response to Trump’s moves, it was raising tariffs on a wide swath of American goods and products from 10 percent up to 20-25 percent beginning in June. The latest move by Beijing will hike tariffs on some $60 billion in American goods.
These and other comments tell you exactly where Bidn would be in trade negotiations with China. Give them anything and everything they want with nothing for the US. Very reminiscent of all Dem trade deals and negotiations.
We have become so dependent on China that most of our military vehicles rely on Chinese-made electronic components. If tariffs help us get back the ability to create our own technological production, it will stimulate more value than we lose.
American workers are still the world's most productive, thanks to our ability to innovate. We need to regain the lead in AI and computer technology, and restart other industries to retain that kind of productivity.
There are developing countries we can buy low cost goods from, and they need the help to grow their economies. China is not absolutely essential for us. We've just become addicted to their cheap goodies, and we need to kick the habit.
I would add thanks to freedom and.....
Who knows? Maybe the Dow Jones Industrial components will get back to actually being industrial again.
Cannot trust the Chinese to do anything except doing what ever they feel is right for them.
1) If by 2020 Americans discover they don't need China and start making stuff on their own again and take pride in their newly discovered abilities to produce, then Trump will win in a landslide.
2) If by 2020 Americans discover they don't need China because they can get decent cheap goods elsewhere and cut China out of the loop and combine that with 1 above, then Trump wins in a landslide.
3) If before 2020 China blinks and cuts a decent deal, then Trump will win in a landslide. China better cut a decent deal before 1 or 2 above come to fruition - and I suspect they know it.
Essentially, the US enterprises and other parts of the world are now getting an opportunity to gear up and kick China where it hurts.
#2 is a distinct possibility and a great opportunity for other countries. We are actively looking at Taiwan, Vietnam, S Korea, Thailand. If fat boy wasnt so into control, this is a great opportunity for N Korea, but that wont happen.
China cant do #3. They are too far down the road and their government IS communist, so they only embrace capitalism in order to enable their collectivism.
China and USA MIGHT make a deal in order to stop this tariff process, but it would be kind of a hollow deal that looks good but doesnt fix anything. If it happens within a couple of months, Trump in 2020 might be saved. If there is no deal, Trump is done, as well as the Repubs in 2020. Socialism will take over then.
Good points, term2, and I understand these problems. The Trump administration has been working on the regulations, but has a long way to go. There are state and local regulations Trump can't do a thing with, but the states are learning (notable exceptions are NY and Kalifornia). As far as workers being too entitled, I see where that is very true in some areas, but not in others. "Entitled workers" are mainly the result of government regulations (at all levels) making it so.
I still say it's a race. We could win, we could lose. China could lose big time if Trump stays the course, IMHO. I've said the statement: "A socialist system can be made to appear to work as long as there is a strong enough capitalist base to support it." China figured that out and right now the main capitalist base it's suckling is the good ol' U.S. of A. [Side note: The Stalin method of making a socialist system work is "guns and gulags", but that has a rather limited life span. China figured that out, too, even though it's still part of their game.]
Side note regarding: "...China's lower wages and more aggressive attitudes towards productivity." First, the Chinese workers are not more productive than Americans. They are a mixed bag of hard workers and lazy do nothings that expect to get paid. Been there, seen it.
Second, China's lower wages. We have to be careful here because it isn't the number of dollars they get paid, it's the buying power. For a quick example using easy numbers, there isn't much difference in an American making $20 and hour who pays $2 for a loaf of bread and a Chinese who makes $2 an hour and pays $0.20 for a loaf of bread. The Chinese, of course, is paid in Yuan, not dollars and the Chinese government sets the artificial difference between currencies to make it look like a big difference. This is the currency manipulation game the Chi-comms play that Trump wants to address. If the yuan and the dollar suddenly exchanged on par then the Chinese worker in the above example would look like he's making $20 per hour and his loaf of bread would cost $2, just like ours. Of course, the values I used here are not exact, but it illustrates what currency manipulation does.
What he has done is increased corporate taxes if the company shows profits of $50k or less. He upped the tax rate from 15% to 21% for that tier of profits. In addition he got rid of the "domestic production" tax credit. So Trump has hurt us and other small companies.
Trump is also costing us a LOT in import duties from china. It doesnt cost china a penny. Its just a tax on the usa buyer and consumer. So Trump is guilty of a bit of lying on that front.
We buy from china because the prices are 1/3 of what it costs to buy american. Manufacturing has left the USA, and we are one of a tiny number of manufactures who have stayed in business and employed our 10 people. We have done that by buying raw materials and subassemblies from china, and doing design and assembly here in the USA. The tariffs wipe out any profit we will make in 2019. Raising prices to usa and our foreign customers isnt in the cards, as we would lose substantial business.
I think that instead of going to a gold standard which would fix the balance of payments problems, Trump is trying to use tariffs to discourage americans from buying chinese stuff, period. The stealing of intellectual property is just a straw man. This is why he cant get a "deal". He doesnt want a deal.
Trump is better than any of the democrats, and I voted for him in 2016. I would vote again for him in 2020 if he wises up and gets off the tariff train.
If not, maybe its time to get Bernie Sanders in here and destroy the whole economy with a fatal dose of socialism and get it over with. I would close this business and retire for sure
As far as the tariff "war" effect on your business goes, I think any rational American knows there will be those who get hurt worse than others. I've been watching the plight of the soy bean farmers as well. All of us are going to "pay" something on this as consumers of Chinese goods.
You and your company are suffering a double whammy with the tax change and the tariff. I wonder how many others are the same. In the end, though, the USA can't continue with this trade problem with the cheating Chi-Comms. Also, tax and regulation relief was needed to boost the economy in general. For your sake, I would want China to "blink" and I think they will.
I guess from your company's perspective it won't matter if China blinks or Trump settles as long as it happens before you go under. How long do you think your company can stand this trade "war"? Are you seeking alternate suppliers?
Given there is a 3 to one price advantage buying from China, it would take a lot more than 25% to make us by usa
The need for a tariff duty (tax) seems to come from the imbalance in trade which makes money more valuable, if China hoards the money, else it needs to invest it somewhere and eventually returns to the USA with some countries earning it and then importing goods from the US or investing in the US economy. On the small level, I spend money every month and do not expect to own that money and expect to get it back from the new owner of the money. I exchanged the money for what I thought was more valuable than the money. Like all free trades, the traders believe that they are giving up something of lesser value for something more valuable.
I do not see any advantage to decreasing the standards of living for some US citizens by increasing taxes (duties).
When a country tries to deal in some way to hurt other countries economically, they only harm their own citizens by reducing their standards of living. Subsidized goods which are cheaper and of the same quality than elsewhere should be used in order to free up capital for other enterprise in the importing country. In capitalism, one is penalized by unnecessarily having to buy overly priced goods since the extra money used decreases capital available for other uses.
In the case of tariffs, the government takes money out of the economy for purposes which may not have any economic value and certainly no value to those who are hurt from the tariff law.
To explain (1) further: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavio...
To explain (2) further, ask yourself whether you (USA) would sell your only gun to another person who made obvious his hatred toward you (Iran) or his desire to take your other belongings (China)? At what price would you sell that gun, considering there are no police in this scenario?
I can just tell you that 25% tariffs just wiped out any profit we will make in 2019. We have to raise prices which will result in lower sales and the laying off of more of our workers. Making things here is NOT an option, as the only reason we are still here is the ability to buy cheaply from China.
Where else can one buy a cheap watch which keeps perfect time for $8.00 if one is not out to impress others with some kind of jewelry. That opens up some extra money for other uses. Individuals are being ignored by being discarded into collectives.
In the case of the tariffs, china is not stealing from us. If our companies want to sell in china and the price is that they give up their secrets, its still a willing transaction
As to the balance of trade imbalance, its caused by the lack of an objective backing of our currency. If it was backed by gold, we would have lost a lot of gold to china and our currency would have weakened and therefore chinese prices would have risen to balance things out. Its OUR fault
As to competitive advantage, China has whipped our asses. In my experience, they are far and away more aggressive marketers than our more lazy americans. They have passed the usa in many areas, and of course their prices are 1/3 of what it costs to make the stuff in the USA.
I say Trump is trying to look good by discouraging usa companies from buying from china without actually demanding that we do that. His intention is to penalize americans from buying chinese until the balance of trade balances (which it never will !!). The whole issue of stealing technology is a straw man designed to NOT get an agreement until americans stop buying from china.
I would put it a little differently. It depends upon what happens to prices within the countries. In the US, either the amount of production would decrease or prices would have to fall do to a smaller amount of money, otherwise the market could not clear. In china, either prices would have to increase do to the excess money or more production would be needed to match the larger amount. In trade between the two countries, the higher gold value in the US and the lower gold value in China would have to be readjusted for trade to take part.
It really does not matter. Gold is a commodity and when used as money, it is just traded at the values that the traders place upon it. Once traded for goods, it becomes the sellers property and need not be returned to the buyer other than when the buyer can offer a product worthy of being bought. The main trouble comes when paper currency is created. The backing by some commodity does not ever stop a government from printing excess money. It just pretends that the value of the commodity can be revalued to make it look like all is well, at least until the inflation of currency grows enough to cause price rises. The inflation of the currency is the result of the commodity being reevaluated by the government, i.e., removed from the free market.
It is just like anyone in the market with a finite amount of capital. There will always be a balance of payment problem between traders. If a system does not work at the local level, there is no way that it can work on a country or world level. A contradiction in a small system cannot be eliminated by increasing the size of the system.
If i buy from a supplier in China, essentially I trade my gold for the product the supplier makes. Eventually I would have no gold and my Chinese supplier has all my gold- stopping trade until the supplier in China buys something from me and pays me
Some of his gold by buying some of my products. So trade imbalances can’t go on unchecked.
If I use a paper deposit receipt (dollar) instead of sending physical gold, the result is I have now less physical gold but the same number of receipts. This makes the value of my receipt (dollar) worth less in terms of how much gold iit represents- therefore I need to send more of the receipts for each product I buy. That means the price of my suppliers product has risen and I will buy less
Isn’t this the was it’s supposed to work?
Our federal reserve system somehow hides the depreciation of our dollar and results in unchecked trade imbalance. We just print dollars and the stupid Chinese treat each dollar as if it had the same value
Somehow we have asked for what is happening
The reason socialism is getting such a push now is because Trump's economy is doing so well. There is more $$ available to be looted.
But that wasn't real socialism.
/s
Both require sacrifice of self and others.
The John Galt speech talks a bit about this.