“The best way to stop this hemorrhaging of America’s lifeblood is a simple but powerful tariff on most foreign products, like the kind that was the primary source of government revenue through most of American history, and which built this country into the manufacturing powerhouse of the world,” Trump said.
However, the editorial board had also dismissed this argument, suggesting that the trade deficit “isn’t a useful measure of economic performance” and noting that the trade deficit increased under the former president even when adjusting for inflation.
The dark secret is that the key to an affordable American lifestyle is Chinese and southeast Asian slave labour producing cheap goods that can be produced in large amounts. America has the resources to be neaerly self-sufficient but a shirt produced in America would cost much more than one from China.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, dependency on foreign manufacturers is a dangerous thing when the biggest country controlling them is a fascist threat.
There are other tactics that China uses to blackmail the west.
DeleteRare earth metals for example, are vital raw materials for many hi tech products. China dominates supply, and regularly threatens to restrict exports, pushing up prices. So the West needs to become independent in supply of these metals.
And this is another reason for the US to be mad at Canada. We have a decent supply of the stuff and if we aggressively developed our mining industry, we'd end China's monopoly. But there's no development in Canada. We're too worried about Native rights and the environment and gender equity to actually care about containing China.
Delete