Tariffs against buying items from China will simply add to our costs (75% of our raw materials and subassemblies are bought from china in order to stay in business- making these items in the USA is already prohibitively expensive). When our costs go up, our prices will have to go up, and whats left of our customers will have to foot the increased tax bills- the proceeds of which will just go to the government and therefore will be wasted on "programs". Competition from the chinese manufacturers of finished goods will also rise, meaning that there will no longer be the lower prices we currently enjoy. The economy will shrink as people have less money to spend.

There isnt much difference in the politicians after all. They ALL want more money for the government whether its done by direct taxes, or indirect taxes like import duties.

rbroberg:
Force and fraud. That covers it.
Reactive not proactive, that explains it.
To a rational person who understands the nature of a free society there really is nothing more that needs to be said about the government's basis. All the rest is merely the mechanics of implementation. Any implementation that contradicts those two statements is not to be considered.
Nothing could be clearer. Thanks.

Pretty much everything our current government does is PREVENT economic activity, not enhance it. They dont create jobs, the people do that. All government can do at this point is remove obstructions to people creating jobs.

Exactly right you are! You have a good understanding of it.

For some reason I don't hear the most fundamental argument against tariffs. Suppose that Chinese workers, laboring in horrible conditions (which is not true), produce cheaper goods than US workers. By feeling sorry for Chinese workers, the US puts a tariff on their goods. The tariff money goes to the government, which wastes it. The American consumer (or industry and then the consumer) pays more and if the tariff succeeds in lowering the amount of product sold, that means that the Chinese workers have less work, less income and, with smaller quantity produced, there is less incentive to automate their production and, thus, keep the same workers laboring with little hope of improvement. As always, the best of the government's intentions result in the worse of outcomes.

I do believe DT wants to use tariffs to protect USA jobs and also to provide a competitive environment in which companies and entrepreneurs can create more jobs here.
This ain't telling a communist country what to do save for paying a tariff.
There is a reason why I worked in a prison a few miles from Birmingham with lots of laid-off steel workers.
I'm sure all the eco-nazis are happy that the ghostly looking chimneys I can see all over the west side of Birmingham can no longer belch smoke like they did back during the 70s.
The Chinese don't mind being the ones to instead belch that said smoke--and then some!
Hip, hip, hooray, the planet's saved from fires gone out with lots of jobs in Birmingham!
As for steel workers loathe to boss convicted felons, there's always O the Great and Powerful's smoke and mirrors shovel-ready jobs he later joked about not being so shovel-ready.
Oh, that was so funny as long as the joker has dark skin and a D beside his name.
Yeah, me dino watched how folks just laughed along with O on my TV screen.
So funny! So funny!

It would help to properly define politics. It is two smaller words combined into a larger word. So, let's break down the word "POLITICS." The first word, "POLI" is actually a prefix which is a mathematical term meaning "many." Polynomials, polygon and such. The second word is "TICS," which are blood sucking parasites. So, the real definition of "politics is "many blood sucking parasites." Knowing this, what would you expect?

Yes. I neglected to write a sarcasm tag.

Machines are the only way we remain competitive with countries whose wages are far lower than US wages for like jobs. Factor in the saving from the absence of environmental regulation in many countries and wages and you have to ask how much more we're willing to pay for something just so UAW or UFCW or the Teamsters can pull $20 for every worker.

Detroit.

Automation is our only answer if we intend to be a full partner in the the global economy. We will sink economically until everyone else improves their standard of living.

Politicians are moochers whose role is to ensure a level environment for commerce, nothing more. A global economy is a cancer for the US with its higher wages and standard of living, it is a weapon that can be used against us to bring us to our knees.

I don't care if people outside the US eat, have access to medicines and are self sustaining - that their own peoples/nations responsibility.

If anyone wishes to buy what they need from us I'm all for it. But the US, because of our standard of living, cannot be competitive in a global economy where autoworkers in BFE get $10 week without benefits. Automation is the solution but and automation costs jobs.

Lower wages? Higher cost of living? More on subsidized living (welfare)?

Pick your poison.

They're saying we need to protect people by keeping apart people who want to trade. Each party has something the other wants, but gov't is in there to protect them for exchanging what they have for what they want.
"necessary evil to protect against Chinese goods made on low wages "
Then we really need to protect against goods machines make for no wages.

tariffs against the chinese will just mean the consumer in the US will pay significantly more for goods. Nobody ever focuses on the right things. The removal of Sarbanes Oxley, the removal of many onerous regulations which affect small business and protect BigBusiness.
The govt itself notes that 93% of all net new jobs are created through small business. A substantial percentage of those are based in technology.