Posted on 03/08/2018 10:37:31 AM PST by reaganaut1
The European Union on Wednesday released its target list of retaliatory tariffs on American exports worth $3.5 billion if President Trump pushes ahead with his steel and aluminum tariffs. This is how Mr. Trump’s trade irruptions could imperil American exporters and become a destructive spiral.
The EU is acting with some restraint—for now—in crafting a narrow list of items on which to impose tariffs, including bourbon, orange juice, corn, ladders and motor boats. None are vital to European industry, but they are politically shrewd in targeting exports from states represented by Republicans on Capitol Hill. The point is to punish voters in states Mr. Trump carried in 2016 and Republicans running for re-election this year. Too bad Europe can’t impose a tariff on Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, the architects of this fiasco.
The danger for the EU is that this will inspire Mr. Trump to indulge his schoolyard impulses and hit back at the EU again. “The European Union has been particularly tough on the United States. They make it almost impossible for us to do business with them,” Mr. Trump said at a White House presser with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. He’s also threatened tariffs on European cars.
Since White House aide Gary Cohn soon won’t be around the White House to explain how unconnected to reality this is, we’ll try. It is not “almost impossible” for American companies to do business in Europe. The bilateral trading relationship between the U.S. and the combined EU states is the largest in the world. In 2016 American companies sold goods worth $270 billion in the EU and services worth $231 billion. America has a bilateral trade deficit in goods with the EU—$147 billion in 2016—but a services surplus of $55 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Uhmmmm.......Targeting politics red states by foreign governments? Isn’t that meddling in U.S. political elections?
Mercedes, VW, BMW, Porsche, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Audi, Volvo, Mini, Sterling, Alpha Romeo, Fiat..............................
By operation, U.S. tariffs will force higher prices on those targeted items upon which U.S. tariffs are imposed. Like shooting yourself in the foot.
Although government-forced higher prices on a particular import may help certain industry special interests who have lobbied for such protection, the American consumer, American OEM enterprise that use targeted components, and, thus, the economy in general, suffers accordingly from such. U.S. protective tariffs are a net loss for America.
So-called “trade wars” consist of one country shooting itself in the foot because the other shot itself in the foot. Insanity.
Answer? DON’T shoot yourself in the foot because the other guy did. Let the voluntary cooperation between buyers and sellers in the open supply and demand of marketplace free from government interference work it out and do what it does best: CREATE WEALTH.
In the meantime, get rid of the CAUSE that cripples our cost-effective, superior America products: government meddling and interference which CREATES POVERTY.
Tariffs Tariffs tariffs
Fiddle dee dee
Give every American a $1000 tax credit for buying a car or appliance made in America
Then sit back
It is vital for our National Defense that we have a healthy Steel and Aluminum industry. It is not an option to allow these industries to whither as other countries dump their steel and aluminum. We are already in a trade war and must respond. We have less to lose than “them”.
The United States is overwhelmingly an importer, whereas the EU is overwhelmingly an exporter. Not hard to guess who’d win, ultimately. Open your markets to US exports, EU. You’re the one who will lose, otherwise.
Uhmmmm.......Targeting politics red states by foreign governments? Isn’t that meddling in U.S. political elections?
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Yes, it is. The Globalists/Deep State know what they’re doing.
Looks like we all have to buy more Kentucky bourbon!
And raise more US corn fed beef!
idiots, we are already in a trade war, a trade war with the rest of the word and we are getting our heads handed to us.
Being a cowardly idiotic scum must be one of the criteria for the press.
Trump already mentioned those as next on his tariff list if the EU retaliates. Then the EU will pick other products to tax, and the Trump will pick more, and then they will counter, and on and on and on.
That's why it's called a trade war.
On Import Tariffs and Our Foreign Trade Stockholm Syndrome ~
In terms of trade retaliation, I’m old enough to remember a time when the only harm the Chinese could have inflicted on the U.S. would have been to impose an embargo on their then chief export -— paper and bamboo cocktail parasols. But look how we fear them now! Like it or not, we’re engaged in a multi-front war to restore America’s autonomy and exceptionalism.
From my perspective, the proposed import tariff issue is divided into two distinct camps. The analogy I’ll use is that America, in the name of “free trade,” finds itself standing on an increasingly wobbly, three-legged stool with a noose around her neck. One camp, the Trump camp, is urging that we attempt to remove the noose and run the risk of slipping and hanging ourselves, but better that than continuing to be held hostage.
The other camp, the defenders of absurd trade inequities (Stockholm Syndrome) is urging that we hold our breath and remain perfectly still, knowing that the stool will eventually collapse, but praying that it won’t collapse today, This issue has polarized American opinion and discourse because one option is risky and scary, while the other is foreseeably suicidal.
The U.S. hasn’t posted a foreign trade surplus since 1975, and is currently running an annual trade deficit of more than $800 Billion per year. Frankly, we’ve gotten so accustomed to getting screwed by our foreign trading partners that one camp would rather do nothing at all, than to disturb this false sense of trade stability. The other camp would rather reverse course, while we’re still able.
One thing is for sure, trading commodities with foreign governments (ex. China) that subsidize production costs in order to dump below cost products on the world market is NOT “free trade.” We are sacrificing long-term national economic independence, internal production capacity, security and indeed sovereignty in exchange for strategically leveraged near-term price point savings, without considering its true overall impact.
This is exactly what the no borders, globalist oligarchs want us to keep doing because it so diffuses and cripples America’s internal economic and production might that it leaves us vulnerable to world crises. What country in their right mind would cede production of strategic metals like steel and aluminum to a known hostile government, while turning its own industrial production of the same strategic metals, along with its workforce, into a “Rust Belt?” We did.
So, we have a choice. We can either decide to throw off the yoke of foreign economic tyranny now, and run the risk of trade retaliation that might make us temporarily uncomfortable, or do nothing at all while awaiting the inevitable outcome of complete economic subservience to foreign governments. As for me, I’d rather take the risk now, while we still have the ability to spool-up our near-dead, but proven industrial production superiority -— prices be damned.
MAGA
Because a $1 trillion deficit isn't big enough?
Trade wars are wars of attrition.
The USA is the largest market of leisure spending in the world. By far.
Price increases may slow down purchases but it won’t stop them.
I am pretty sure the EU and others will blink first.
Trump clearly feels the same.
Tariffs will cost jobs in industries that use steel and aluminum and in export industries targeted for retaliation. They also raise prices for consumers.
I’m going to guess you haven’t been shopping for a car lately in Europe.
“Tariffs will cost jobs in industries that use steel and aluminum and in export industries targeted for retaliation. They also raise prices for consumers.”
Yeah, and if we get into a war with China, we can buy our Steel and Iron from them to build our War Machine.
Very thoughtful and well stated. Thanks for a great analysis.
Free traitors are amusing to me.
Someone had better tell Dogbert Mueller that foreigners are meddling in U.S. elections again!?
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