Those tariffs may work if the USA had the manufacturing bases that needed protection, which tariffs are expected to do. But manufacturing in the USA is still far off and just an Indian pipe dream. Who is going to provide the alternative to China to stuff the shelves of Walmart and the warehouses of Amazon?
They want China to foot the tariff increases and trying their luck. Sure, the Chinese can just increase the prices of their products to cover those tariffs, which will still be far cheaper than what could be imported from the EU, UK, Canada, Japan and anywhere else on earth. Who will still have to foot the bill and bear the pain? Not the Chinese manufacturers by a long shot, who may export less to the USA, but more to the Global South. In fact, that is now happening.
At the end of the day, the tariffs will hurt USA consumers by hook or by crook, whether Chinese manufacturers absorb those tariffs or not, which they will not do by logic. Who gets trapped is still not certain.
Anonymous
4 comments:
China's decoupling from the USA is no longer a choice but a necessity, in order to avoid continued bullying by the USA. Enough is enough and the USA is not the only market for Chinese products. Just losing a little in the short term and reaping the benefits over the longer term is what we call patience.
China is not that short sighted in looking at developments and where it will lead to. Five thousand years of history, civil wars, uprising, floods, earthquakes, foreign subterfuge and coping with the rise and fall of dynasties did not disintegrate China. What is a little trade war? The Chinese people have gone through more serious hardships for centuries and being humiliated before and will not bow down to bullying.
China must dig in, tit for tat in tariff hiking. The Chinese Government's response had been calculated not to affect citizen's cost of living too radically. Looking for alternatives and getting hold of them first is very important. Trying to act tough without getting the base ready is a big mistake. Moreover, Chinese citizens no longer depend largely on expensive imports from the USA, whether in agricultural produce, EVs and batteries, essential minerals, cheap energy and availability of enormous amount of steel and aluminum. In fact, deflation has long been considered a problem for China by the West, and a little inflation is not going to hurt them that radically. I would, feeling ashamed to say this with no clout, tell the Chinese to 'hang tough' and fight the bully.
The whole Global South is thankful that China is exporting deflation with cheap products, while the USA is exporting inflation with its money printing. The USA wants the whole world to continue to fund its deficit spending, and to support its uncompetitive industries and even being forced to buy its expensive products. That has to end.
As I said before, China is blessed with a huge consumer market and a powerful industrial base. Domestic consumption is a factor that is keeping China chugging along. Those tariffs are hurting USA investments all over the world, and China knows that for a fact. The tariffs hurt not only Chinese manufacturers, but allies and USA companies overseas exporting to the USA, which may force them to relocate back to the USA. But what about being able to compete on markets outside the USA? Why isn't Apple moving back to USA instead of looking towards India for example?
China should not respond with tariffs. They should just cut off exports to these sickos. Then tariffs by the orange loser will be meaningless. 1 zillion percent tariff on nothing is still nothing. China can rechannel the exports for US to the global south and BRICS, who I'm sure would welcome them. To add salt to the yankee wound, sell those products earmarked for the yanks at a good discount to the new customers. Call it an introductory offer.
Let the yanks isolate themselves and die a slow death, if the inbred hillbillies don't revolt and start a civil war first.
When an American buy groceries and other necessities from the supermarket, he is having a deficit with the supermarket because he is not selling anything to the supermarket, as the supermarket does not need to buy anything from the American.
The American rants and says he's being rip off by the supermarket, and imposes tariffs on the supermarket so that the things he is buying from the supermarket is now more expensive.
Trump, Americans are so stupid . . . . !
USA is good in fabricating and imaging, so we should believe that USA is going to manufacture all the things it needs. That is if you still believe they never lie. I believe they lie about everything.
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