First, we don't have free and fair trade with China or most of the world. It is not a level playing field.
Second, you need to analyze why US firms relocated overseas in the first place. Lower labor costs, less regulation, lower taxes, etc. play a role. The US must create a more friendly environment for business. Trump is doing that with the lowering of the corporate tax rate, cutting regulations, lowering energy costs, etc. We also have the advantages of dependable property rights, stable government, an educated work force, etc.
Third, tariffs work. When the US implemented the so-called chicken tax (25 percent tariff on light trucks imposed in 1964 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on importation of U.S. chicken), it resulted to this day in the moving a European car manufacturers to the US to make light trucks and SUVs. There is a reason why BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc. have major production facilities in the US. The message: Relocate to the US and avoid the tariffs. The fallacy of NAFTA resulted in an outflow of automotive jobs to Mexico and Canada where cars were made and then shipped for sale into the US without any tariffs.
Some of the most prosperous times in US history came during times of tariffs. The US is the most lucrative and largest export markets in the world. We have all the leverage when it comes to dictating terms on who gets access to that market. Until Trump arrived, we didn't use that leverage and instead allowed the world to take advantage of our very low tariffs while they protected access to their own markets thru high tariffs and other trade barriers.
China will have real political problems if they lose access to our markets. They are far more dependent upon exports than we are. Their loss of jobs would be catastrophic.
Our Founders had no issue with tariffs. They use them to fund the country for about the first hundred years, until the Wilson era.
Globalism isn’t even good morally speaking. We Outsource factories to Nations where they pay the absolute minimum to workers, and it will enforce absolutely no rules against pollution. If one of those countries decides to elevate itself a little bit, the globalist pop over to the next country that will play ball out of desperation. When they get a little uppity, they hop again to another country. It’s a cynical race to the bottom.
I am convinced that if Nazi Germany existed today, we would allow factories to open near the concentration camps because of free labor. We quite literally do that right now with North Korean work zones.
RE: Lower labor costs, less regulation, lower taxes, etc. play a role. The US must create a more friendly environment for business. Trump is doing that with the lowering of the corporate tax rate, cutting regulations, lowering energy costs, etc.
Well, suppose we have all the above,and Trump is already doing his best to provide this environment, still, we have Medicare, Social Security, Payroll taxes, 5 Day workweeks and other things that Chinese workers do not have. This will decrease the cost of making things in the USA I’ll give you that, but will these really offset the labor cost savings in China where they DO NOT HAVE all the above benefits mandated by law?
RE: Some of the most prosperous times in US history came during times of tariffs.
Question, during those times, did the USA have Medicare, Social Security, Payroll taxes, environmental regulations like we have today?
If the answer is No, then the USA was like what China is then today.