Quote:
Originally Posted by mikempp
So your solution is ship the jobs to China so you save $15?
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For the most part, that ship has already sailed.
Tariffs on manufactured goods *might* be explained as a means to bring jobs back to the US. If we can tax the foreign-made goods to the point they are more expensive than American-made then perhaps consumers will choose to buy American. To be successful this requires there to be American-made goods to buy and it depends on the American manufacturer to not see this as an opportunity to increase their prices.
Tariffs on parts and components (integrated chips, steel, aluminum, etc) will increase the cost to manufacture items in America and therefore increase the price of American-made goods. Sure, it *might* be possible to rebuild the US steel industry but not quickly and the price of the steel produced will still be higher than the pre-tariff price (otherwise we would already be making that steel here). So again, prices to Americans will go up.
Is America willing to pay more to support American products, American jobs, and the American economy? Not voluntarily and not happily. Americans will notice the higher prices and the resulting higher inflation numbers.