President Donald Trump promised that his tariffs would help America become a “manufacturing nation once again.” Eight months in, the United States is losing thousands of manufacturing jobs, and economic growth is expected to slow globally. In August, U.S. factory activity shrank for the sixth consecutive month.
Anyone with common sense will realize that America's strategy of off-shoring all of our manufacturing was a big mistake. The only bigger one was allowing China into the "most favored nation" status while their Communist Party was in charge.
You can't have critical manufacturing capabilities and production of raw materials done exclusively by foreign companies. This changes us from a producer to a consumer of goods, which means we are subject to the whims of foreign entities, which threatens our national security.
It also hollows out our middle class. Workers can either flip burgers or be stock brokers. Eventually, imported goods become so expensive that our quality of life suffers.
Trump saw this threat (as did anyone who traveled through the Midwest to see the empty towns) and decided to take action. Because we have the largest consumer market, we can charge tariffs (like every other country does) and give large corporations a choice: pay extra to ship their goods to the US, or build manufacturing here to avoid tariffs. It is a sound, long-term strategy, and one which will prove Trump right once again.
I understand there is some pain in the short term. Some goods will be more expensive. But if we could turn back the clock and had refused to allow China to become the world's top manufacturing country by resisting the allure of cheap goods, we would have done so. Now, we face a strong competitor, and possibly a military confrontation, with a rival that is bent on becoming the most dominant country in the world, using our resources and wealth to do it. And this competitor is not a democracy and is against democracy. Look at their threats to Taiwan. If they successfully take that country, what will be next?
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(1) comment
Anyone with common sense will realize that America's strategy of off-shoring all of our manufacturing was a big mistake. The only bigger one was allowing China into the "most favored nation" status while their Communist Party was in charge.
You can't have critical manufacturing capabilities and production of raw materials done exclusively by foreign companies. This changes us from a producer to a consumer of goods, which means we are subject to the whims of foreign entities, which threatens our national security.
It also hollows out our middle class. Workers can either flip burgers or be stock brokers. Eventually, imported goods become so expensive that our quality of life suffers.
Trump saw this threat (as did anyone who traveled through the Midwest to see the empty towns) and decided to take action. Because we have the largest consumer market, we can charge tariffs (like every other country does) and give large corporations a choice: pay extra to ship their goods to the US, or build manufacturing here to avoid tariffs. It is a sound, long-term strategy, and one which will prove Trump right once again.
I understand there is some pain in the short term. Some goods will be more expensive. But if we could turn back the clock and had refused to allow China to become the world's top manufacturing country by resisting the allure of cheap goods, we would have done so. Now, we face a strong competitor, and possibly a military confrontation, with a rival that is bent on becoming the most dominant country in the world, using our resources and wealth to do it. And this competitor is not a democracy and is against democracy. Look at their threats to Taiwan. If they successfully take that country, what will be next?
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.