no one want’s to see “family farms” die. which is similar to the argument “no one want’s to see children die.” well of course no one wants that....
but, i don’t really buy your premise.
1. China isn’t the only market for farm goods in the world. thus, there is no necessary cause/effect relationship between tariffs and family farms dying. you’re framing an emotion based argument that isn’t logical. it’s really more of a prediction. i’d need to see data establishing causality for one thing.
2. we have had tariffs in place for many industries and types of goods for decades, and obviously America has thrived. thus there is nothing intrinsically wrong with tariffs and they have successfully preserved and protected American industries and businesses in the past.
3. I would argue that we need to reestablish local markets for farm goods, which was how they developed historically after all. foreign markets developed after local ones, not the reverse.
4. family farms in calif have been going under for decades under ***current*** economic conditions (i.e., unfair trade). ag business has been feasting on those farms during that period. those are the facts. boutique wineries and micro farms have thrived out here. a bunch of them hobby businesses for the rich and famous. thus, maintaining the status quo is already proven not to enhance the survival of family farms, just big ag.
so, family farms—i agree with you—are indeed desirable for so many reasons, but sadly have been dying for many decades under the present “globalist/free trader/cheap labor” uni-party and elitist/chamber of commerce political rule and economic policies. policies which no question have been lining the pockets of big, stagnant, multinational corporations and the crony-capitalists funding the lobbies of the d.c. uni-party.
this fact alone would argue for a change from the current regime (a logical and historically proven way to do this is the gradual establishment of fairer, more diversified trade through targeted tariffs) to create the conditions where local manufacturing and business can once again compete with crony-capitalist monopolies and once again support local economies including family farms (i.e., as was the case historically in America).
that would be the direction of my argument for tariffs.
They are however the biggest for midwest pork, wheat and soybean producers for example. Tariffs are going to really hurt the family and small farmers are a result.
no one want’s to see “family farms” die. which is similar to the argument “no one want’s to see children die.” well of course no one wants that....
Now there's a correlation I reject. They're not even close.
we have had tariffs in place for many industries and types of goods for decades, and obviously America has thrived. thus there is nothing intrinsically wrong with tariffs and they have successfully preserved and protected American industries and businesses in the past.
Those tariffs aren't used to conduct a trade war, and that's a major difference between individual tariff's and blanket tariff's.
I would argue that we need to reestablish local markets for farm goods, which was how they developed historically after all. foreign markets developed after local ones, not the reverse.
I'm a HUGE proponent of "locally sourced" myself. Farm to Table restaurants are one example why. I live about 30 miles SW of Chicago in a rural area, surrounded by farms. I am absolutely loving the locally sourced movement myself. Small and family owned farms however have thrived with their increased ability to export and allowed them to continue to grow. Cut off our largest market in the world for their products and they not only stop growing, they start shrinking. For the record, I grew up in central Iowa outside of Des Moines in a farming community. I have an affinity for family farms as a result so I'll disclose my bias here.
The rest of your thoughtful post I need more time to digest and I very much appreciate your response. It is very reminiscent of the types of posts we used to have on here "back in the day" and put a smile on my face as a result. Thank you.
Best regards,
USC