(08-15-2024, 09:13 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: Here's a question for you.  The Chinese property market is overbuilt and collapsing, which means the Chinese steel industry is also overbuilt, because they are losing one of their main markets- the Chinese construction industry.  At this point I am speculating, but this means there could be a lot of very cheap Chinese steel on the world market, because they have nowhere else to sell it, and demand has plummeted.  

If we allow this cheap Chinese steel into the United States, then the cost of building things like automobiles, skyscrapers, or anything that takes steel becomes much cheaper.  Then American companies would make a lot more money, employ a lot more people, and prices would go down here in the United States.  

So letting cheap Chinese steel into the United States could be a tremendous benefit to our economy.  But we have tariffs on Chinese steel, to protect the US steel industry and US steel workers.  

If you had the power to do it, would take advantage of this Chinese misfortune, and let their steel flow into the US unimpeded?  It seems like it would be a tremendous benefit for consumers, and a lot of American industries, but might damage the US steel industry.

No.

I would rather ease some of the regulation and red tape that makes production of steel here so expensive.  To go along with that, get rid of the unions that drive the cost of labor up.  Also produce more oil/fuel here which would also ease the cost of transporting and producing the raw steel.

Why bail out China?

As a country we used to have a "can-do" attitude.  When WWII broke out many young men were eager to enlist and join the war effort.  Many young men rather than being "soy boys" dropped their toys (in today's terms would have put down their phones and game consoles) and lied about their age in order to enlist.  In the absence of the men the women went to work in factories (hence the term Rosie the "Riveter") that were converted from producing toasters to producing weapons and other supplies for the war effort.  The people of the country as a whole made many sacrifices and did what needed to be done.  It's why they are called "The Greatest Generation".

That is exactly the kind of attitude that is "Make America Great Again".

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