Tariffs have a place when America is making things that others overseas or next door is also making facilitating an “even playing field” for both domestic and export.
American participation in major manufacturing of durable and perishable goods for our domestic use and export is all but over. We have voluntarily given that portion of our economy outside of our boundaries.
That overseas/across the border manufacturing was not forced upon these companies. They chose to exploit cheap labor opportunity to fatten bottom line profits, which many Americans welcomed via their 401k’s or investment portfolios. Surprisingly, investment gurus, banks, Wall Street, our military congressional industrial complex , Pentagon, Congress, and Executive, Judicial branch of government, including our last 10 presidents never considered this overseas manufacturers would get really good at what they produced both in price and quality raising that labor forces standard of living. Those objectives certainly worked for America post WWII. Why wouldn’t it for others who chose to follow our then lead?
If you’re not producing, you are in no position to complain. Certainly cannot cry foul in a game you have chosen NOT to participate in, The best performing producer defines the price, quality, availability, and its distribution. China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada have figured that out, and stepped into the vacuum left by vacating American companies, of which Americans have gotten accustomed to purchasing. If the company declines in quality, availability, performance, and its distribution, with increasing prices and less value, the consumer determines who can and does deliver a better product.
No one put a gun to the head of Continental/Lycoming/Cirrus/Diamond/Mooney and said you must sell your ownership to China. China bought all this huge portion of GA, invested in each of these companies or, in the case of Mooney, has chosen not to…( their choice as they are the owner)…and have been not only flourishing but are the GA leaders and innovators, while still employing US/Canadian workers paying taxes to Alabama, North Dakota, Minnesota, DC, and Ottawa, CN. And we love our/ their Cirrus/Diamond airplanes powered with Continental and Lycoming engines, using Garmin and Aspen avionics being painted with Sherwin-Williams paint, pulled thru the American and European air by Hartzell propellers. China learned to do American capitalism better than America now. Our competitive response? Do as we say, not as we do …, or in our case what we do not do… or we will sanction you, destabilize your government, and then shoot you!
The worst part of all this we are now the global bully, but got fat, flabby, lazy, complacent, and lethargic, threatening we are going to kick the rest of the planet’s collective keesters, if we can just manage to climb out of our Vietnamese made Lazy Boy, put out our Cuban cigar take that last sip of our Colombian coffee, pull up our Bangladesh made extra large shorts, and our Indonesian made stained T-shirt, point our nicotine’stained fingers at everyone shouting unfair…unfair… followed with “I’m coming at you”with an F-35 that does not operationally nor cannot perform, a few of the remaining 80 year old B-52’s, 6 of our flyable twelve B2’s, with a support cast of Javelins, Tomahawks, Patriots, and Stingers from 80’s, bring surveilled and guided by 30 million dollar plus Reapers bring shot down weekly, all of this financed by Treasuries bought by the countries we are seeking to destroy, Yeah, tariffs makes sense …REALLY?