Posted on 02/06/2014 6:49:10 AM PST by Cringing Negativism Network
Today is the day, that our trade figures were released for 2013.
Once again, America has failed to gain any appreciable trade volume, vs China.
Go into any American store, look on any shelf, and all the stuff is "Made in China".
The big problem is: in China, all the things are "Made in China" as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at census.gov ...
China exports to America: 440 Billion dollars.
America exports to China: 122 Billion dollars.
Every year, America buys more, and more, and more from China.
However we don't sell stuff to China.
This "free trade" experiment is a large failure. Bring back jobs to America.
Now.
The TPP will fix it.
Wait until an Earth quake strikes Beijing. Bu bye US bonds.
“Another Clinton legacy. “
Not really. Give China a little credit here.
China’s top income tax bracket is 25%. China is now a net food exporter as they have modernized their farming and still have cheap farm labor. Chinese infrastructure has made massive improvements leading to higher productivity. China spends maybe 1/5 what the US does on military. China has a minimal safety net when compared to the massive US welfare state. China has a really strong work ethic and has minimal exposure to rap, hollywood, or gangsta stuff.
I don’t think Clinton is at fault here.
I’m sorry, that is not correct.
Our trade deficit with China has skyrocketed every year, since Clinton was president.
We (both parties) have sold out American workers. On this issue, Bush was every bit as bad, and Obama is just as bad as well.
Nobody is taking a single stand for America.
Look at our trade balance on the chart at the link. (it’s a government site, just fyi)
It is ridiculous how completely China dominates our trading relationship.
The USA would be very competitive is we reformed welfare, food stamps, the school system, reduced our miltary, and eliminated the black ghetto culture as a lifestyle.
“We (both parties) have sold out American workers.”
I think this is half the story as corporate america went overseas for a better deal on taxes, labor law, tort law, work ethic, labor costs, and OSHA and EPA regulations.
The other half of the story is that the underclass of the USA has a terrible work ethic and really won’t work under almost any circumstances. Furthermore, govt. has also been a large part of the problem.
Who cares about trade imbalances? There is no theoretical reason to care about them. The fact is that Americans get cheaper goods from China which allows them to have more disposable income.
I agree with your second point, but I also am strongly on the side that we have lost control of our trade balance.
America needs to make things right here.
China is a growing military challenge.
We cannot maintain a world strategic balance, when we are simply buying everything from China.
Our defense budgets are now maxed out. Our economy cannot continue to grow.
China has five times America’s population.
We need jobs. And we need a positive trade balance.
America bring back American jobs.
I am not directly contradicting you, I agree with you that Clinton was bad on China trade.
My point is, Bush was just as bad, and Obama is just as bad.
Nobody is doing anything.
Our trade balance with China gets worse, and worse.
Every year it just gets worse.
My point is, our side is selling out to China.
Bring back American production. Now.
We can make up for it in volume.
To the “bring back American jobs” crowd I understand. However, it will take either two things. One is to have an empowered central government that forces companies and people to produce products. The people won’t syand for that and I sure as heck don’t want the government to expand any more than it has. Two, is to cut back government power over the economy through the tax and regulation structures. And we all know that won’t happen. We can’t squeeze the toothpaste back in this tube.
I suggest one, universal trade tariff.
On everything imported. Everything. Oil. Food. Manufactured goods.
If it is imported into America, it pays one single tariff rate. However this is important, there are no exceptions.
Anything imported, is subject to one single tax rate.
The question is only, what is that tariff rate?
What we are doing now, is simply selling-off everything in America.
This is a way to collapse, as a country.
We need to make things, right here in America.
“Another Clinton legacy”, actually you can trace this back to late-Reagan and Bush 41.
You can thank Nixon for selling us and the Chinese people out. He promised and business leaders have promised since then that it would make China more like us and it hasn’t. Not to mention they steal our trade secrets and dump their unsafe goods on our shores.
One point about Welfare state. Look at Europe, USA, these economies were developed well before China (we could mention other nations too). The growth period is normal and only followed by welfare state when peoples lifestyles go lower.
Of course this applies to unemployment and safety net items for Americans. The more apt welfare state in my eyes is allowing illegals any benefits at all. These are people with absolutely no claim on our wealth. China as currently constituted will never have that. They very well may have some sort of large program in 5 or 10 years for their own citizens. Economies have to mature to some extent for that to happen.
When you buy a Chinese made product you have to pay for it twice, once to WALMART and then taxes to the unemployed manufacturing workers laid off from off shoring.
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