Posted on 04/01/2011 5:02:33 PM PDT by Red Steel
Real estate mogul Donald Trump said Thursday that the US is being ripped off by the rest of the world, but he would change if he were president.
"If I decide to run, we are not going to have the kinds of problems we have now because I won't be taken advantage of by the rest of the world," Trump told FOX News Channel's Bill O'Reilly.
"We are being ripped off by the rest of the world to the tune of trillions of dollars," Trump said. "I am not talking about the old word, billions. I am talking about the new word, trillions."
Trump says he knows just how to fix things, starting with China.
"Twenty-five percent tax on China, unless they behave," he said.
"You're threatening China with a trade bill. Twenty-five percent tariff. That's big," O'Reilly retorted.
"No, they're threatening us.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxmemphis.com ...
Donald Trump is a buffoon!!! His threat to levy 25% tariffs against China is hollow.
First of all, China would not pay the tariffs, our own consumers would pay those tariffs...that means higher prices for consumer goods. Considering that we are about to enter a period of serious inflation, we don’t need prices to rise any more.
Second, it would take at least a decade to move manufacturing operations from China back to the USA. Such a move would involve repatrioting the final assembly operation and all of the raw material/subassemblies in the supply chain. That means getting approval from government agencies to access the oil fields, mines, forestry products and transportation systems to fill those supply chains...and we know that wouldn’t happen quickly.
Third, where would the money raised by the tariffs go to? We all know the answer to that question...the US government. And we know that the government is incompetant when it comes to handling our tax dollars. Trump probably does to...and he’d like to have control of those dollars to feed his cronies.
Trump is nothing but a snake oil salesman...anyone who believes a word he says is a fool.
You’re right, I forgot my own crazy ideas.
I’m advocating cherry picking imports based on ally status, quality and quantity.
Machine tools, clothing, etc.... there are huge sources of jobs that we have virtually eliminated.
From a national security standpoint as well as an employment standpoint we need to get back into numerous industries.
Well I agree with that - to a point - and I like the notion of cherry picking certain areas where it makes sense from a national security standpoint. If one were to go too far in that area though it makes little sense because our unions are so expensive relative to the rest of the world and we can't snap a finger and make unions go away. I know you addressed that as well. So it requires a thoughtful balance of many considerations.
Trump was a guest on The Savage Nation today and the more I hear him talk about the issues the more I like him. He doesn’t pull any punches and seems sincere about trying to save the country from the direction its going.
Trump interview @ 18:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtNahut6XfQ
The real issue is that in a trade war, we will loose. We have lost to be honest.
We don’t have the tooling to even rebuild our manufacturing base.
I’m not criticizing the child, I am criticizing the grownup pervs who do stuff like this.
We dont have the tooling to even rebuild our manufacturing base.
So, what, we should just give up now and learn Chinese? It will only get worse the longer we postpone this. We are not trade partners to China, we are an adversary. The missiles and aircraft carriers that they are building are not to transport goods to America. They support out enemies, they spy on us and attack our computer systems. All this when we are more powerful. What do you think might happen once we loose the advantage?
>> Must...resist...toupee-wearing president...
Heard he looks like Don King given the right gust of wind.
Heard he looks like Don King given the right gust of wind.”——
I don't get it. And what precisely does his hair have to do with the issues he is raising? Sounds kinda shallow and “shoot the messengerish.”
Lighten up. I’ve been a fan of Trump long before America knew he existed.
Thanks Red Steel.
And the Steve Forbes campaign juggernaut rolls on.
Rather than starting with a tariff, start with incentives to rebuild the tooling and die makers. Do it gradually. China will know what is going on, they are not stupid (and smarter than our elites by far), but by going slow we might advert an immediate melt down.
If we did the 25% tariff now, it would be lights out (maybe literally). We don’t have the capital or cash to make things any more. And we don’t really have the will to train the workers.
I don’t think people realize just how far we have to climb before we can seriously tell China to go pound sand.
It would take a generation or two to get things turned around.
Begging your pardon beforehand, but I'm not exactly prone to credulously accepting the pronouncements of a person who does not know the difference between lose and loose.
Words mean things. The proper use of them matters.
Which proves my fingers are to big to FReep from a phone.....
Which proves my fingers are to big to FReep from a phone.....
Well, I apologize after reading your later responses on the thread. You’re being reasonable. That initial response to me sounded very defeatist and it angered me. Thanks for being a good sport about it and not lashing back.
The Constitution was great for those 130 years but it's wasn't the Bible and it wasn't perfect. The lines supporting slavery shouldn't have been in there and tariffs shouldn't have been in there. A 10% flat income tax was good enough for God during the time of the Judges and a 10% flat income tax should be good enough for us. It would be the most efficient tax. Tariffs would punish our manufacturing by making components more expensive for us than our competition. Our competition could easily underprice us driving our maufacturing out of business. That's why liberals love tariffs is becuse they would help communist China and hurt America.
We need to go to a flat 10% income tax and eliminate the corporate tax. The government should have only four forms of income: Income tax, land acreage tax (to eliminate squatting), loser pays court costs, and perhaps some infastructure fees. We need to get rid of the massive amount of useless regulation and go to common sense regulation. Do these and there would be no need for trade deals, we could free trade with anyone and if other countries want to impose tariffs on our stuff, let them, they would only be hurting themselves by introducing ineffecienies to their systems.
I am not usually a single issue voter but if Trump wants to take on the ChiComs, he’s got my vote. Tariff is not a 4 letter word.
Nonsense. You make a tacit assumption based upon the continuation of outsourcing, the very same outsourcing that is destroying "our manufacturing." The truth is that "our competition" does not honor intellectual property and does not honor product safety laws and therefore they are at an unfair advantage yet again above and beyond being able to capitalize upon near-slave wages as well. This is untenable, clearly.
The purpose of the tariff would be to fund the Federal government and to remove the onus of punitive taxation from the backs of individuals and businesses in the United States in toto. Additionally, it would serve to remove the handicap suffered by domestic manufacturers due to the aforementioned near-slave wages in communist nations and the third world.
"Components" were manufactured here and will be again, so that's a canard. "Free Trade" was and is a leftist Trojan Horse. Free trade has meant the de facto opening the US market to every communist and tinpot dictator, decimating domestic manufacturing nearly across the board and utterly destroying it in some sectors. Where is the complementary market for US goods in these nations? There is none or next to it and you know that.
The fat profits derived from offshoring are winding down, face it, whether we alter our trade policy or tax structure or not, those near-slave wages of your dreams are rising. You can only race to the bottom for so long before you actually hit bottom. We've hit it. "Our" economy is in a shambles. Unemployment is at a rate unseen since the Great Depression.< > It's time to undo the idiocy.
Dittos to what you said.
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