(06-07-2019, 09:47 AM)mikesez Wrote:

(06-07-2019, 08:12 AM)MalabarJag Wrote: I do not support the use of tariffs to protect the "labour" market, hence my opposition to permanent tariffs. Reading comprehension is your friend. Is this an indication of the level of education in Britain? Or are you claiming to be Australian this week?

I support the current tariffs on China and Mexico because the are intended to end China's theft of intellectual property and Mexico's supporting illegal immigration, and because i expect the tariffs to end as soon as they achieve those goals. National defense is the one legitimate role of government, and tariffs used this way are a form of warfare. In that regard they are in the same class as imposing sanctions, although less offensive. This has nothing to do with "free markets," and I do not support government meddling in free markets.

 

If tariffs against China really are retaliation for them not respecting IP laws, the punishment at least fits the crime.
That's not the case with Mexico.
Whether or not Mexico prevents Central Americans from reaching its northern border has nothing to do with the cost of producing things in Mexico.

But we definitely want the Mexican government to stop Central Americans from coming through Mexico's Southern border on their way to the United States.  So Trump is taking advantage of the presently strong US economy to pressure Mexico to do something.

If the Mexican government didn't know for sure that these hundreds of thousands of migrants from south of them were definitely going to leave Mexico at the Northern Mexican border, they would have sealed their Southern border by now, right?  They just let them walk through, because they're not staying in Mexico.  Pretty inexcusable, don't you think?

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