Tariffs are an interesting phenomena. At first glance, one thinks the “bad guys” have to pay to get their product into the country. Actually, it is the local IMPORTER who has to pay these taxes and he / she / it simply raises prices and YOU end up paying for it. So, in the end, you, the consumer pay these taxes.
Unless, that is, you decide to buy American. Now, the problem is America is not known for its manufacturing prowess anymore. In addition, there are some countries that are putting out electronic products (think Japan and South Korea) that we could never duplicate (not because we literally couldn’t, but because we’re too lazy to do what it takes to learn a trade and get our hands dirty).
In today’s paper of record there is an article suggesting China is running out of ammunition in the trade war. They simply can’t match the monetary amount of tariffs our administration is placing on them. Do you know why? Because 1) we don’t manufacture as much as the Chinese, 2) there is a significant trade deficit between our two countries, and 3) they don’t want to buy our stuff anyway.
As we seem to fall deeper into our protectionist, America First (which I really don’t have too much of a problem with) and tariff policies, we have to realize all those great tax breaks we think we received last year are getting absorbed by the taxes we’re now paying on imported goods.
Taxing imports is not the answer. Forcing companies to manufacture here and forcing companies to recruit and / or train the labor force should be “first”. By doing so we get the following: lower unemployment / increase in a skilled workforce; an increased tax base; more factories and resources necessary to protect ourselves in the face of threatened war (think WWII when car companies quickly converted to machines necessary to support the war effort).
If we’re going to pay taxes, let’s get the taxes working for us !!!!
Kevin Driscoll 