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Title: Getting conservatives and Libertarians to agree on tariffs
Source:
American Tinker
URL Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blo ... rians_to_agree_on_tariffs.html
Published: Jul 20, 2018
Author: By Brian Klea
Post Date: 2018-07-20 16:36:19 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 1956
Comments: 9
Tariffs, for instance. Tariffs are uncategorically bad, as they fly in the face of the gospel doctrine of free trade. Since most of conservative bent would agree with Adam Smith on most matters economic, we also agree with the premise. But for many of us, me included, our agreement is only categorical. This is where conservatives lose most Libertarians. But one can reasonably argue tariffs beyond this point. An argument might go something like this: we agree that tariffs are bad, and we also agree that we are in favor of free trade. America benefits from buying goods from any nation that can produce goods, in a superior mixture of quality and low price, than we could produce ourselves. We benefit. However, we would benefit more if the tariff situation was even across all trading partners, meaning no tariffs. Then we could get the added benefit of greater domestic production and sales profits, leading to greater employment, greater tax base...you know the rest. The "demand" side of the supply curve is a tricky one. Obama tried FDR's Keynesian economic model: spend to create demand. Did all of that spending create demand? It sure did! Big spending can be a great kickstarter to get that economic motor of demand into a higher gear. But, as anyone who's seen our national debt can attest, Obamanomics was extremely expensive and is the man's most shameful legacy. Renegotiating trade deals has the opportunity to create no-cost demand. The same kind of demand that Obama paid through the nose for, Trump is going to get us for free. Trump is using tariffs as a negotiating tool to ensure that the ideal scenario of no tariffs is achieved. The man's shooting for the Moon. He may not succeed to the ultimate Libertarian ideal. But he will very likely have successfully negotiated us into a much improved position over where we are now with some countries. The question never really ought to have been if tariffs are good or bad. The question is, is the status quo satisfactory, vis-à-vis tariffs, or can it be improved? Thus, it's entirely possible to be anti-tariff and pro-Trump while observing what he is doing here. We have no reason to believe he won't succeed. The man's track record is beginning to speak for itself. Loudly. So, then, the only question remaining is, "Should Trump use the threat – or even implementation – of tariffs as a negotiating tool?" Then the conversation moves to debating "negotiation techniques," which ought to be pretty short, as negotiation is our president's raison d'être. Poster Comment: One of the most irritating things about Libertarians is that they are often doctrinaire and immovable on topics. (I know, because I'm one.) Repeating: We have no reason to believe [Trump] won't succeed. The man's track record is beginning to speak for itself. Loudly.
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#1. To: Gatlin (#0)
Post some steel news you bush sellout.
Whirlpool Took Tariffs for a Spin, Ended Up With Tumbling Sales
Before the White House was slapping tariffs on Chinese imports, before its tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, the opening salvo in what would become President Donald Trump's trade war was fired without hardly any notice. In January, the administration imposed tariffs on imported washing machines, with the duty ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent along a sliding scale. That sounded like great news to the Whirlpool Corp., an American appliance manufacturer. "This is, without any doubt, a positive catalyst for Whirlpool," CEO Marc Bitzer said on an investor conference call, according to The Wall Street Journal. Almost every government intrusion into the economy will create winners and losers, but tariffs do so in especially direct ways. And it was no accident that Whirlpool was a "winner" of the Trump administration's first foray into trade protectionism. The company had lobbied hard for the trade barriers, telling the United States International Trade Commission that foreign companies like Samsung and LG were undercutting it on price. The tariffs would "create a level playing field for American workers and manufacturers," Whirlpool officials told the commission. They would allow the domestic manufacturer to hire 1,300 more workers at its Ohio plant, the company said. Now, the Journal reports, things look quite a bit different. Whirlpool's share price is down 15 percent over the past six months. (Fellow washing-machine makers Samsung and LG have seen their stock prices fall as well.) Even with a boost from the new corporate tax rules, Whirlpool's net income was down $64 million in the first quarter of 2018 when compared with the same period of the previous year. Why? Because tariffs on steel and aluminum have increased the cost of Whirlpool's raw materials, essentially wiping out the advantage it gained by having its foreign competitors penalized. For consumers, it means the price of a new washing machine—whether made in Ohio, South Korea, or China—has jumped by about 20 percent in just a few months. That's pretty much exactly in line with what analysts predicted in January when the tariff was announced. "We have repeatedly stated that this tariff is a tax on every washing machine buyer in the U.S.," a Samsung spokesman told the Journal. "Since the tariff was implemented, U.S. consumers have paid more for their washing machines across all brands." While the tariffs can be credited with pushing Sumsung to open a small manufacturing facility in South Carolina (LG is reportedly considering doing the same), the costs imposed on consumers seem to far outweigh the potential for new jobs. That's something that economists have generally agreed on ever since the Trump administration started ratcheting up barriers to trade: Tariffs may create some jobs, but they'll cause more to be lost. Similar stories are playing out in other sectors of the economy where the Trump administration has deployed protectionist policies. The 25 percent tariff on imported steel, for example, is raising prices and forcing layoffs, but it is not resurrecting steel towns in the Rust Belt. When it comes to tariffs, the losers lose and often the winners lose too. And consumers lose most of all. It is obvious to me the author has an agenda and that agenda is to make Trump look bad by exploiting the tariffs. The author took the occasion to cherry pick information to show that WHR stock was down 15 percent over the last 6 months to correlate that decrease with the implementation of the tariffs. Actually WHR stock was down 9.39 percent over the last 6 months. I don’t know where the author got the 15 percent figure from....but then saying the stock was down 15 percent sounds worse that being down 9.39 percent. Whirlpool’s trouble did NOT start 6 months ago with the implementation of tariffs. Whirlpool stock has been down for the last 3 years with the exception of the most recent quarter when it had the only increase of 4.04 percent which the author neglected to mention. Hmmm. Whirlpool stocks is down 20.80 percent over the past 2 years. You can see the Barchart Technical Opinion rating is a 8% Sell with a Weakening short term outlook on maintaining the current direction. Longer term, the trend strength is Minimum. Long term indicators fully support a continuation of the trend. The longer term downward trend has noting to do with tariffs. It is a continuation of Whirlpool being unable to get its act together. So, Deckard, don’t just go out and cherry pick an article to support your agenda. That simply will not work with me....and I hope everyone is getting to distrust your lying ways as much as I already do. You really need to stop with the misrepresentation. And above all, don’t believe everything you first read. Do some fact checking. I didn’t bother to check the reporting accuracy in your other two links. When I found one was a lie, that was enough for me. Fuck the FAKE NEWS media....Go DONALD!
My God, Man. I just finished debunking a lie in Post #4 and now I come to this post and find yet ANOTHER lie. You run crying to Stone about my posts and yet you post shit others make up just to maliciously attack Trump and falsely accuse him. Sad.
I have already debunked this story and PROVED it to be a LIE. Enough is enough, already!!!
According to The New York Times, an internal report prepared by the White House Council of Economic Advisers showed that the tariffs would be detrimental to US economic growth. The report, like many CEA studies, has been kept private by the administration. Such a report would concur with analyses from Wall Street economists, academics, and trade experts. It would also confirm the fears of CEOs, manufacturers, and leading business groups. But the report would also hurt the argument of many in the Trump administration that the US economy can still see robust economic growth even with the tariffs in place. "Higher auto tariffs will harm American families and workers, along with the economy," said Jennifer Thomas, vice president of federal government affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Thomas's comments come as the Commerce Department responded to an investigation that will determine justification for its plan to implement tariffs based on national security grounds. The notice of the investigation elicited nearly 2,300 comments from manufacturers and sellers of cars and car parts, automotive hobbyists and many average Americans, with much of the commentary criticizing protectionist sentiment and expressing concern that they would be the ones bearing the costs. “Even for cars that are assembled in the U.S. and have a U.S. brand, the amount of foreign parts and components in these cars are substantial,” said Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “Even for those U.S.-assembled cars, it would have a significant impact on the price.”
Trump is surely right if a wuss like you is whining. Your tears are a good sign. You new world order supporters would rather let the WTO dictate our trade. That is why you are known as a traitor. Someone who would surely be dealt with by real Americans if you acted on things like when you hinted you wanted to murder Trump. I wonder if the secret service knows you want to harm the President and that you have posted about your desire for a bloody coupe. Maybe you are being allowed to post here because I want your threats of violence public. Maybe they are already investigating you.
I just love all of the articles proclaiming both sides of the story to be true. And all of the arguments that result from those articles, especially when they don't even know if the article they want to believe is true or not.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
We have no reason to believe [Trump] won't succeed. The man's track record is beginning to speak for itself. Loudly.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#2. To: Deckard (#1)
#3. To: A K A Stone (#2)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#4. To: Deckard, A K A Stone, GrandIsland, Everybody (#3)
(Edited)
Your article: Whirlpool Took Tariffs for a Spin, Ended Up With Tumbling Sales. I stopped reading your article when I got to: Now, the Journal reports, things look quite a bit different. Whirlpool's share price is down 15 percent over the past six months.
It is unfortunate that many folks like Stoner will read your bullshit article and believe it. Being the intelligent person I am... I did however realize something wasn’t right with the article since I am acutely familiar with the performance, or in this case the nonperformance of Whirlpool (WHR) stock over the past many years.
#5. To: Deckard, A K A Stone (#1)
We have no reason to believe [Trump] won't succeed. The man's track record is beginning to speak for itself. Loudly.
Click on your link and then tell me the name of “another American Business” that is being injured. There is NONE. You link leads only to a general information article about tariffs.
#6. To: Deckard. A K A Stone. Everybody (#3)
Whirlpool Took Tariffs for a Spin, Ended Up With Tumbling Sales
How many times are you going to post this SAME lie on this thread?
#7. To: Gatlin, Deckard, A K A Stone (#6)
Trump's own economic team has a study that undercuts his main arguments on tariffs
Even President Donald Trump's own economic team thinks the president's new trade policies are likely to hurt the US economy. Trump's auto tariffs will cost consumers $83 billion, insiders tell Commerce in hearing
President Donald Trump's threat to impose punitive tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts will cost American consumers $83 billion, warned representatives from the auto industry at a Congressional hearing.
#8. To: hondo68 (#7)
#9. To: All (#0)
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