America's largest trade deficit issues lie with China, yet Der Trumpenführer, like a peevish playground bully who only feels good when threatening or harming others, has lashed out at America's closest allies and is imposing tariffs that will result in retaliatory tariffs in return that will have a net negative impact on Americans - also the insane malignancy in the White House can feel like he's "winning" even as almost all of the rest of us suffer economic harm. This on top of the Trump/GOP tac law which is going to harm many small businesses this year (the husband and I will see our taxes go up even as billionaires receive hundreds of thousands in tax cuts). A piece in Politico looks at how Americans will be harmed by Trump's petulance. One can only hope that Trump's Mid-West base is harmed the most since they are the ones how put this misogynist in office. Here are article excepts:
Donald Trump has said that trade wars are easy to win. . . . The flip side of the trade war is the squeeze that America’s strongest allies will impose.In the meantime, there are also many industries that will suffer collateral damage of higher tariffs that they may absorb by cutting jobs, pinching wages or taking other cost-cutting moves.
Here’s a look at how the new trade war could play out:
ConsumersConsumers could soon be paying higher prices for cars and trucks, electronics, homes and staple goods like canned foods and canned beer. Aluminum has been a lightweight substitute for heavy steel components in manufacturing, and Canada provides 40 percent of the U.S. imports of the metal.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers warned Thursday of a direct correlation between Trump's tariffs and the sticker prices of cars at dealerships. . . . these tariffs will result in an increase in the price of domestically produced steel — threatening the industry’s global competitiveness and raising vehicle costs for our customers," the trade group said in a statement.
Some may say that the counter-tariffs that U.S. trading partners are imposing won’t be felt by Americans. But the tariffs that Canada is imposing on goods like cheese — and Mexico is imposing on products like pork bellies — could result in a glut in the United States if consumers abroad don’t want to pay more for U.S. imports.
Manufacturers and exporters
[M]anufacturers like Boeing will have to pay more for raw materials than rivals like Canada’s Bombardier or Europe’s Airbus will. In addition, Canada and the European Union are already working on bringing down tariffs with each other on all sorts of other goods.
Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Florida orange juice, Virginia ham and Washington state apples are all expected to be hit by retaliatory tariffs by the European Union, Mexico and Canada. Those producers could, in turn, make adjustments to lower their expenses, leading to other economic harm here.
Farmers and agricultural products
America's farmers and ranchers, a crucial part of Trump's political base, often find themselves on the front lines of trade disputes, but stand to gain little from the benefits of the steel and aluminum penalties. One of the U.S. heartland's biggest cash crops — corn — is on the EU's retaliation list. Wisconsin produces about half of the U.S. cranberry crop — another product on the EU’s list.
Bourbon whiskey (which Congress has deemed to be a "distinctive product of the United States") is also on Europe’s target list. And citrus farmers in Florida and California are in no position to absorb trade hits, having seen their crops destroyed by blight and Hurricane Irma.
U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Tom Sleight said that exporters are worried that years of hard-won gains could be lost. "We have spent years building markets in these countries based on a mutual belief that increasing trade benefits all parties," he said.Global suppliers
Parts and supplies crisscross the globe, especially in automotive manufacturing, but also in hundreds of other industries. If a company has a choice of putting a plant in Detroit, where it may have to pay the tariffs, or over the border in Windsor, Ontario, where it doesn‘t, it may choose the latter.
The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users is concerned that overseas customers will flee to other sources. "Our members are also reporting concerns over their own exports as their overseas customers shift to non-U.S. suppliers who do not face government restrictions on steel and aluminum," said Paul Nathanson, a spokesman for the group. "And when a customer removes you from their supply chain, especially for smaller, family-owned businesses, it is tough to bring that work back to the U.S."
All of this is lost on the cretin at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is only about him and boosting his ego as a "tough guy." To Hell with the rest of us. As the harm begins to take hold, Democrats need to hang it around Trump and the GOP's necks. Oh, mone more fun fact via the Washington Post:
. . . exports actually account for a greater proportion of economy in counties that voted for Trump than in counties that voted for Clinton. That means Trump voters would likely end up feeling the heaviest effects from changes to trade . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment