Buying from China
 

Will be interesting to see if there is a surge in imports from China in the next two months, with the likelihood of increased tariffs after that.

A bike tire I ordered on-line two weeks ago was sourced direct from China and arrived yesterday, and I suspect WalMart will have a larger number than usual of huge container ships heading our way.

Tariffs or not, goods from China will be with us still, for a very long time.
Tariffs are just price rises for the customer.

If tariffs…then you can buy US made. That’s the plan right?

Temu Cutting into Amazon profits it was already in works before election. We Can figure out why. Only certain things are tariffs, can’t tariff everything from China cause last 60 years majority manufactured/casting comes from China. Hence the middle man mentality, why built it or produce it when don’t have to.

Maybe in 20 years unless attitudes change.

IMO much ado about not much.

I feel that many of these tariffs will be targeted, and not sweeping anti-China etc.

For sure, vehicles from China and probably Mexico would be targeted - as they should be.

We DO need to manufacture MUCH more in our domestic production, especially critical pharmaceutical etc.

Our country needs to be completely prepared and focus on OUR country. So many others have taken advantage of us over the years. Especially allowing Corps et al to run amok exporting jobs and enriching themselves despite endangering the country.

Myself, I'll wait and see what happens. The sky is NOT falling. IMO the clouds are opening and the sun will shine brighter.

If tariffs go from 25% to 60% that will greatly affect Chinese imports. Watching closely.

And greatly increase the price of goods to us. Then we will demand wage increases to keep even. Thus the inflation spiral will begin. When it comes it comes in on an express train.

So who do you blame for all the good sourced from overseas?

The people who just look at the cheap price vs. the quality and origin of the goods…..or the manufacturers who outsourced the goods because they didn’t want to pay a fair wage (and benefits) to the American workers…..or the US manufacturers who did not have smart and creative employees (due to a poor educational system) to develop new cutting “edge technology”to the market.

When was the last time you sought out goods made in American and knowingly paid more for them ?

Also, who do you think is paying all those tariffs? We are, the consumer.

Don’t blame China or the rest of the world, they are just filling a need.

Inflation will work its way through the economy , tariffs will make imports more expensive ,certainly at the same time making American goods more competitive price wise, wage increases inflation adds to , as the workers feel the pinch

The idea of manufacturing goods in the U.S. may sound good, but people will always buy the cheapest products regardless of where they are made.

Interesting things, tariffs, and there are many reasons for applying them.

China currently produces 80% of the World's solar panels, so of course it can make them cheaply - that is the whole point of mass production.

However, the USA imposed tariffs on them claiming that they were being sold "below cost".

If they are, surely the best way to get at that company (or country) is to buy as many of that product as possible? That way you, get them nice and cheap, and on every one you buy the company is losing money. It can't keep doing that for ever and will soon have to raise its prices to cover costs.

Many tariffs are imposed to protect local manufacturers. This is not the case for solar panels where the USA does not have the capacity to meet demand, and can sell all ot produces to people who want to buy USA-made products.

The major reason for imposing tariffs is to raise revenue for the Government (under the guise of doing what's best for the local manufacturers, of course).

That's the plan, but it doesn't always work. Supposed to "level the playing field" so imports don't have unfair price advantage over US goods.

There are lots of things that people consume or purchase, that aren't made in the USA at all. And many of those things that ARE made in the USA, use components that are made in China.

Prices will be going up on just about everything other than LOCAL produce and meats. Why? Because trucks that deliver stuff to the supermarket are made with components that come from China.

In addition, the whole reason we all buy things from China instead of manufacturing here in the first place - is because no one here wants to work for the low wages needed to provide these products to us, for the same prices that we pay from Chinese imports. So we'll be looking at either a) a massive increase in prices for products newly-manufactured in the US to accommodate the pay, insurance, and other expenses involved in having American employees, or b) a massive drop in pay and massive increase in people who can no longer pay their bills.

It's just so myopic to assume that we'll be fine if we just buy from US manufacturers.

Personally, I generally prefer to buy the best product I can (reasonably) afford. Sometimes the old saying, "that you get what you pay for ", is true. Sometimes, it's not. Let the buyer beware.

If the panels are being made below cost the govt of China would be subsidizing them giving them an unfair advantage.

I do believe the tariff assuming people believe it will last for a long time will encourage manufacturers to make the items as they can now compete on price.

Agreed. So buying a load of them would adversely impact the Chinese government financially.

And it's not as if the US government doesn't subsidize certain industries here (or give them a break in other ways, such as not requiring them to abide by pollution laws).

They will have other problems when the demand declines due to less taxpayer subsidies. The solar stocks plummeted on Wednesday.

More Like
 

It will be more like China drops its subsidies and tariffs, then the US backs off.

I agree with this analysis. I have no training in macro economics but logic tells me the a country with a high standard and cost of living cannot compete long term in a global economy with countries that have a low standard of living. It seems to me that eventually they will have to meet some place in the middle.

And I can't understand how some economists claim it's OK to keep increasing the national debt. Doesn't the debt have to go away at some point, maybe by inflation, maybe devaluing the currency, or some other approach?

In 2008, Hemlock Semiconductor based in Michigan picked Clarksville, TN as the location for a new, $1.2 Billion polycrystalline silicon manufacturing plant. The local university established a course of instruction to educate employees for employment in this industry. In 2014, Hemlock announced they were closing the plant because they couldn't compete with cheaper imports from China. The plant never produced 1 ounce of silicon. Hundreds of jobs were lost. Equipment was sold off as scrap metal. Millions of dollars of public money was lost. People want cheap products and buy foreign made but then complain about low wages and no job opportunities.

Could also be other reasons. Taiwan Semi is having trouble staffing their new Arizona plant because they claim that Americans are much lazier than native employees.

My grandson worked for a brief spell in a Japanese owned auto parts plant in Tennessee. He was new and still trying to get into the groove of working an assembly line. He accidentally dropped a part and when a part was dropped it had to be discarded. A Japanese manager got into his face almost nose to nose and was screaming, at the top of his voice, at him because he dropped the part. Who wants to work under those circumstances. Based on my research and conversations with people who have worked in Asian owned companies with Asian national supervisors, this is typical management style.

The plant in Tennessee had over 400 employees setting up operations in preparation for manufacturing silicon. There was a waiting list of a few thousand people wanting to work for this company. There was no problem with lazy employees.

Hankook Tire has a plant in Clarksville also with over 1,600 employees and there have been no reports of lazy employees. LG, a Korean electronic products manufacturer, has a plant there also with hundreds of employees, no complaints of lazy employees. Nissan has a huge automobile assembly plant in Smyrna, TN employing hundreds of workers. Nissan has no problem retaining people or hiring new employees. My life experiences have shown me that when employees are paid a good wage with good benefits and treated with respect will work hard at their job. Lazy employees is too often a convenient excuse for poor management and poor treatment of the workers.

Very true but it could also cause goods made in the US or in the Americas to appear more competitively priced. I have some mixed feelings about tariffs but recall many years ago that the excise taxes on Japanese electronics goods made me look at USA alternatives since price after tax was comparable. Those tariffs would also be going into our coffers, hopefully to benefit our society, and not to bolster China economy and infrastructure

Tariffs
 

Tariffs and decreasing the corporate tax to 15% tax on corporations in the US is a great thing for American manufacturing jobs . John Deere was going to move manufacturing to Mexico but now are staying here in the USA . Prices will come down on products manufactured in the US due to the lower tax .

Tariffs are paid by importers, then passed onto customers as price rises.
No good ever came from world tariff wars.

U.S. manufacturers can't compete with China because of Government regulations and controls. So, the answer is to impose Government regulations and controls, including tariffs, against China. It doesn't make sense to me.

Which is why we don't ever shop at Wally world. You also forgot Amazon which should be located in China......

As for price rises, not necessarily. You're missing the chain in that statement, a typical assumption is all that is.

We need a balance of trade - they tax our goods and we need to do the same to them otherwise we are competing at a disadvantage. It's the right thing to do.

Steve Madden Shoes imports 70% of their shoes from China. They announced yesterday they would be moving 1/2 of their production in China to other countries - Vietnam, Cambodia, Brazil, etc. to avoid high tariffs on Chinese imports.

Not one new job in the US!

If anyone in government thinks that raising tariffs is going to increase manufacturing in the US or going to increase employment in the US or lower costs to consumers .....

Any legitimate economist or financial specialist has stated that tariff's only hurt consumers. Shows you how dumb the person who is pushing for them is in reality. I would be more concerned about the potential increase in produce, meats and dairy when there will be no immigrants to do the work!

Most of the manufacturing facilities in China are owned or partially owned and totally controlled and regulated by the Chinese government which is known as the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP employs slave labor, and much of the profit from all these factories is garnished by the military. That is why China now has the worlds largest Navy, and is building warships faster than any country in the world. Their ultimate goal is domination and control worldwide. They love American greed. The "what's in it for me?" attitude that permeates the masses. In the long run, if left unchecked, it will be our downfall.
Buy American when possible. If not, buy Mexican (it employs the Mexicans, and helps keep them south of the border). Otherwise if possible support any country that is an ally of the U.S.

Ye, let’s import everything and put everyone out of a job! Funny, maybe tariffs are a way of bringing back some jobs to our Country and having Americans actually pay a little more to have less people on the unemployment line. If you’re not for helping fellow Americans, maybe our way of life doesn’t mean much to you. Just because I can get away with a little theft doesn’t mean I should.

Most of us on here have been walking this planed for a long while.
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a trend with many things we are being fed that’s just plain wrong.
Every 10 years, we go from global warming to global cooling. If we don’t ‘fix’ this, we are doomed and we all will die.
Well, sea levels have not moved, the global temperature is .4 degrees cooler over the last 2000 years, according to data that’s found in deep ice core samples.
Then there has been the shipping so many jobs to China and other places overseas. All by design. Stop believing the climate alarmists and start bringing back jobs. But that’s just me.

maybe, but not if China reduces its price to keep undercutting the US prices, like they did last time. The chinese economy is not comparable to the US economy in any way shape or form. Don't confuse simple theory with reality outcomes

But creat American jobs

Tariffs have never worked as intended. proponents hope that tariffs combined with tighter immigration will boost demand for US manufacturing labor and consequently wages and produce more jobs for us citizens. But it doesn’t work that way and it shouldn’t.
But we will see because increased tariffs are definitely coming.

I'm not sure what the real solution is but tariffs are not the answer. Most economist have stated that whatever tariff is place on a product it will be the consumer that will pay the price. The problem with America is we are economical society, all of us including myself are always looking for a bargain. We don't care where it's made and who is making it, even if it's children. I love our country, but in China they encourage their people to buy their own home-produced products doing so is considered civil pride. Maybe the government should start a campaign teaching the American people the benefits of purchasing what we make here, even if the price tag is a bit higher.

Tell ya what. If you subsidize ME, I will join you in never shopping at Walmart again. I'll need around $4000/year in Publix gift cards, and $3000/year in a Visa card so I can buy my shirts, shorts, and Hanes for Hers underwear and socks in Kohl's. So call it $7000/year total. Let me know when to expect the check, I'm looking forward to waving at you in line at Publix.

Then do as I asked from midwiz who had the same sentiment. Help ME so I can afford to pay a premium for the same stuff I get now for less. If you send me a check, I'll stop buying imports if I can find the same or better quality in the states for more.

My socks are made in the USA, but I'm pretty sure my underwear is made in Vietnam. Both are made by Hanes. I wait until they're on sale and stock up. Some of my shirts are made in India. Some in Vietnam. Most, I believe, are made in China. I can't afford to buy the clothing manufactured by American companies in America. The cheapest shirt I found among a "complete" (not really) list of American-made product manufacturers was $50. I pay $8 for my teeshirts at Walmart, and $24 for my "nice" shirts on Amazon. My Skechers shorts and skorts are made in Indonesia and China, and again - I wait til I find what I like on clearance and pay around $20 each. Or, I do without.

I finally found a pair of sneakers that don't make my neuroma act up and are slip-resistant and incredibly comfortable, at a price-point I can afford once every 2 years. They're made in China.

So. Find me all of these things, made in the USA, for the same price at the same or better quality. OR, send me money so I can afford to pay the premium to buy American.