In class, we discussed the debate about NAFTA during Clinton's presidency. Right now we have a trade debate of our own. For the past year, the US has been in a trade war with China. President Trump has made it clear that he believes China has unfair trading practices and has stolen intellectual property. This issue has not been resolved and as the world wait it is not only impacting the two countries economies but in fact the global economy as a whole.
Trump's plan is to raise tariffs on imported goods from China so that imported goods become more expensive. The idea is that this would, in turn, incentivize American manufacturers to make more things.
So far, the US has imposed tariffs on more than $360bn (£296bn) of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated with tariffs on more than $110bn of US products. This month we initiated the third round by targeting meat to musical instruments, with a 15% duty. Beijing again responded by 5% to 25% on US goods.Both countries still have plans to roll out more tariffs by the end of the year and there has been a marked decrease in exports across the past few months. Trump, however, agreed to waive laptop and smartphone tariffs until December which most theorize as to be strategically timed after Christmas shopping.
The question now remains are the higher costs of consumer good we are heading into right now worth the potential of more manufacturing jobs in the future? Basically is the trade-off worth it?https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45899310
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/08/chinas-exports-to-us-fell-16percent-in-august-as-trump-escalates-trade-war.html
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/13/20803716/trumps-gadget-tariffs-china-trade-war-laptop-smartphones
To me it seems like trump is really screwing us over. Every time we raise tariffs china is going to raise tariffs thus making things more expensive for everybody. This plan also probably doesn't make china very happy and is putting a damper on our relationship with them. It is essential that we have good relationships with china because so many good are produced there. Our relationship with china is a key part of our economic stability.
ReplyDeleteI believe that President Trump is doing the right thing by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods. Clearly, his strategy is to get tough with China and other countries that he feels have been taking advantage of Americans. I feel that for too long, America has been pushed around by China and other countries. Obama was hugely responsible for this. I do feel that by imposing tariffs, American companies will be motivated to produce more products. This is ultimately good for America.
ReplyDeleteTariffs might originally sound like a good idea, and the goal of bringing back manufacturing is great for American jobs. However, I don't think it will be very successful. Firstly, a trade war just becomes a game of one side raising tariffs, and then the other side matching it, until one side cannot anymore. And I believe that the Chinese are more willing to sacrifice and ultimately, win the trade war. Additionally, the US is currently a more service-based economy. Although the US still has farming and manufacturing, we have seen tremendous growth in our service sector in the past 50 years. My question is whether we can even go back to having a more manufacturing based economy. Recently, though, with the attack on Saudi oil, China is forced to buy American oil with the 5% tariff on it. Ultimately, whoever wins, I don't see how Trump's trade war with China is beneficial to anyone.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2019/09/17/attack-on-saudi-oil-is-boon-for-trump-in-china-trade-war/#21e15e7c1e49