Posted on 12/16/2016 8:49:07 AM PST by central_va
I think your facts are wrong. There is a lot of weapons systems being built in the US by General Dynamics, GE, Raytheon, Boeing, and other companies. It would be more if there were tax policies in the US that were favorable towards corporations. Currently, they are not.
Let's stop the bleeding of American labor while we address the root causes.
Raising tariffs means higher prices for us
I advocate a revenue-neutral (or -decreasing) reduction of corporate and individual taxes as tariffs are raised. You on board?
Agree completely. When I was in high school in the 80s and they were talking about how great free trade was for everyone, my first thought was how can American workers compete with workers from countries where $4.00 a week is considered a good wage? There is only one way, if our wages go down.
That really depends on the industry and the product, doesn't it? I believe labor represents no more than 5% of the cost of producing an iPhone.
If you cut tax rates, you raise the real income of labor, which means they can buy more goods and services, which means economic growth. As I've said before, a rising tide lifts all boats. Tax cuts for business makes every worker more profitable to hire, plus puts more spending power in the economy. No one is "bleeding" the American worker, except those workers who want $15/hr at a fast food restaurant.
No, I'm not on board. Give the American tax payer a significant tax cut and watch what happens to the demand for goods and services and, hence, the demand for labor. Give corporate America a tax cut and watch what happens to the demand for labor. Tariffs hide the problem, tax policy can fix it.
That is a red herring that has nothing to do with trade policy. If something is cheap, it should not be expected to last long. One interesting question is whether an industry can even survive if it produces consumer products that last 30 or more years.
I can't argue with McConnell on this one. Cutting tax rates to the point where tax revenue falls only works if accompanied by corresponding spending cuts. This country is bankrupt and can't afford to pile itself under even more debt -- especially as interest rates rise.
No, I'm not on board. Give the American tax payer a significant tax cut
Please re-read, noting the "or -decreasing". Thanks.
I agree - in the absence of spending cuts there can be no true tax cut, only a tax shift to our children and their children.
That is a red herring that has nothing to do with trade policy.
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BS , It’s a valid observation related to the quality of low cost imports. With an uneven playing field the bad will always push out the good in a race to the bottom.
I’m not even sure the Harley Davidson example is relevant. How does a tariff help a company whose customer base goes out of its way to avoid buying cheap competing products, and who had already been willing to pay a price for a new motorcycle that was 50% higher than imports?
Precisely the point. That phone is produced in China where 95% of the cost is the cost of capital, not labor. We are being outproduced because or our gov'ts tax policies on business. Let Apple build a billion dollar plant here in the US with all the latest technologies and we can bury the Chinese. As it is now, gov't scrapes 35% of business capital away so it can give free cell phones to deadbeats. Tariffs don't solve that problem.
OK...I’m on board with the decreasing part.
That's not a trade problem -- it's a consumer problem.
Or maybe it's not a "problem" at all -- and the consumer is smarter than you think. Maybe the consumer realizes that paying $X for something that lasts for 5 years is better than paying $10X for something that last 6-8 times longer.
Luxury car brands like Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and BMW don't see their sales decline just because Ford, Toyota and Hyundai offer much cheaper models, do they?
1. Where are the suppliers of the raw materials and components located?
2. Where are the customers located?
P.S. — I would make the case that the invention of the shipping container has had a much bigger impact on U.S. trade deficits with Asian countries over the last 50 years than the cost differential for either labor or capital.
The Harley tariffs weren't a response to competition, but rather dumping.
That doesn’t exactly reflect what the article says in the link you posted.
And I believe the shipping container was invented by an American.
bmp
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