(03-29-2024, 12:06 PM)Jaguarmeister Wrote:

(03-29-2024, 08:00 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: I'm not really a Democrat or a Republican (although I am a registered Republican).  I'm not really a liberal or a conservative.  My views on various issues are not consistent with those labels.  I agree with Biden on some things, and I agree with Trump on some things, and I have strong disagreements with both of them.  I would probably vote for a Republican if it was someone other than Trump.  I am not a populist, I am not a protectionist, I don't like tariffs, and I believe in free markets.  I also don't like identity politics, or affirmative action, or forgiving student loans.  I believe climate change is real and we should try to do something about it.  I think we need to seriously deal with the deficit, and I don't see either side willing to do that.  I think we need to stop illegal immigration and allow more legal immigration.  I'm on the fence about abortion; I can see both sides of that issue.  I think we need to support Ukraine and Nato.

You tell me, am I a conservative or liberal?  A Republican or a Democrat?  

So that leaves me on the fence, and that's why Trump's repulsive character tips the scales.

I believe in free market principles as well, but are markets truly free when China uses artificially cheap labor?  They're basically cheating the free market (this is one way, pegging their currency exchange rate to ours is another) and we're playing along because it benefits us in the short term, but is actually bad for us in the long term because it enriches and empowers a communist regime which would put our population under communist rule if they had the power to do so.  One day, maybe they will.  That's where tariffs become a tool to influence consumer behavior hopefully for the short term so that foreign nations can play fair or at least more fair than they were previously because the tariff raising the price on an imported good should influence consumer demand for that item and its domestic or other imported substitutes.  I know it's not realistic in a cold turkey type of move and probably not realistic when our elected officials are literally and figuratively in bed with them, but I think we should aspire to not do business with communist regimes like China.  At the very least, not ones using artificially cheap labor.

That's one example of when tariffs should be considered, but the broader one is our economy is the envy of the world.  Everyone that mass produces a product wants to sell here.  We should absolutely wield the power of tariffs when need be to get nations to do something we want before we allow their products to compete fairly and freely within our economy.

If China is using artificially cheap labor or artificially cheap financing to bring us artificially cheap goods, they are hurting themselves and helping us and we should not hinder them from doing so.  They will not build up the wealth to threaten us this way.  

There is a time and place for tariffs.  Two examples are for critical national defense production (which we do all the time) and to encourage better treatment of common resources like the atmosphere and the oceans (we don't do this but we need to start).  Simply keeping factories open so junior can work at the same factory dad worked at is sentimental and not a good enough reason.

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