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The article says the truth but there is information that is not included that should have been. Namly, the US does not now have free trade. The US discounts our trade to importers. It is cheaper here to sell than anywhere in the world, in effect the US subsidizes imports. Before you get mad and call me crazy understand a couple of things. US Manufacturers have to pay up to 39% of their profits as taxes, that is over 1/3rd of the profit is lost. The US requires manufacturers to conform to many, many regulations that are costly and require added employees to deal with it.

Importers don’t have to deal with either of these things. Some countries have business that is wholy owned by the government so that they don’t pay taxes and in many cases have few if any environmental concerns. On top of that instead of welfare they just assign citizens to work in said factory at a low salary. They avoid the cost of welfare and we support their workers who work for a company that pays no taxes but gives all the profits to the government because the government owns the factory. In the US about 70% of every dollar taxed goes to transfer payments, welfare and Social Security. I know there is a special tax for Social Security but the government spent that a log time ago and now the money comes out of the general fund.

I would ask why we would make our companies conform to regulations and then discount purchasing to companies outiside the US who don’t. It is foolish. It is a prescription for failure and it is working wonderfully.

In Japan importers have to comply with all the same regulations in the manufacturing process that the domestic companies do, that is why we don’t sell beef or cars there. Their beef is way more expensive there but mostly because the government forces the growers to conform to a ton of regulations.

I think Japan does it right. Why hamstring domestic and discount imports?

We need to fix it. I think Trump understands this and will.

I'm not mad, and you are not crazy. Our manufacturers pay the highest (or the second-highest, depending on the measure) corporate income tax rate in the world, and they do so on their worldwide income, which is a concept unheard of elsewhere. It probably is the largest factor contributing to off-shoring, but no one cares to discuss it . . . because raising taxes on importers (i.e., raising taxing on ourselves--but who thinks that far?) is easier to do politically than reforming the corporate tax code (which would make people think, instead of emote).