Oh, she was the mother of Kip Chalmers, the politician who got killed in the Winston Tunnel incident. She got a sort of following, and started pushing soybeans.

Very good advice. Thanks.

I have found after buying about $500,000 in parts and assemblies from china that in order to get exactly what you want, you have to specify in great detail what you want (more detail than we are accustomed to here), and give them instructions how to test what they make to assure they meet your specs.

Otherwise, you tend to get what they THINK you want, but with the filter of the chinese culture and language. Mistakes are taken care of quickly in my experience and you dont have to go through 6 people to get it fixed.

I agree with you, term. A large portion of the computers,computer accessories, cell phones, and other electronics (e.g., home entertainment) sold in the US are manufactured in China and the quality is generally good. Yes, there are some lower grade examples in those areas, but the majority is good quality. However, I have heard complaints from friends about other products being of lower quality than in the past, specifically home appliances, with new Chinese made products having much shorter lifetimes than appliances made in past decades. So the image problem does exist in some product lines, but not in others, which proves that the Chinese can produce quality products. I recently bought 5 different Chinese made electronics products (assembled printed circuit boards) sold at low cost over the internet and shipped direct from China. Four of five worked perfectly and one was DOA which was promptly refunded in full. No prediction on useful life ;^) We also ordered a custom transformer which had to be re ordered because the first example did not meet our specs. The re-order was perfect.

Maybe I have bought from reliable Chinese suppliers and been lucky. Quality has been quite good and their technical designs are equal to or better than ours

I would say that to achieve their low prices they need to push out mass appeal items where they can have high production rates. In addition, there is blistering competition aming Chinese companies (much more than here). Entrepreneurship is alive and well in China and that’s one reason they have grown so fast

If it wasn’t for the ability to buy low cost Chinese parts that we assemble into finished goods that we design here, our 10 employees would be out of work

We are only one infinitessimal part of the USA economy but we have found a niche. Right now, take away China and we couldn’t compete without serious automation that wouldn’t pay for itself. our customers will not be able to afford for us to hire USA workers and make the products we make.
Cut off china or put 200% tariffs and we go the way of the dinosaurs. Half of our business is exported out of the USA. (not TO China because they don’t have the money to pay for our high wages and production costs)

China may produce goods cheaper, but it has an image problem. I know of at least one American firm that signed a contract with an Indian firm to provide a higher quality product, primarily because of the incessant breakdown of Chinese equipment. The American firm has heard the same story from other foreign governments: Chinese equipment is of poor quality and unreliable.

What's happened to China is a rapid pace of industrialization that has gotten ahead of their ability to train new workers. As a result, quality control practices common to the U.S. and Japan are not exercised in Chinese industry.

And I have to say our entitled workers are no match for the Chinese workers. We are still alive as a country because we are better salesmen to the bloated American consumers. If the Chinese upped their sales game, we would be wiped out. I can tell you from personal experience that the Chinese are better to deal with than American companies that are alive today only because they buy from China and sell it for 3x what it costs them to the American cudtomers

He is slowing it down, which is all I hoped for. We would have had universal health care and guaranteed income if the dems were in control

I never expected anything different from him. He merely said what would get him elected as president representing the Republican Party with no intention of changing the course toward socialism.

Well tariffs are subject to adjustment on both sides. If equilibrium or close enough isn't established then things can be adjusted, no?

Honestly, I do not see how America's manufacturing can compete in a global marketplace aside from full automation, even agriculture so some degree. Our standard of living, wages, is just too high to manufacture cheaply using human labor.

No, what did she do?

Blarman, your first paragraph sums it up nicely. The same goes for the EU.

It's about cash flow or more accurately "wealth flow". The international trading systems are currently rigged for the US wealth to flow outward and receive very little in return. Our "trading partners" have placed check balls in the wealth pipes where it all flows towards them. The sad thing is our politicians helped them rig it --- until Trump! MAGA!

I don't like the idea of subsidies in a fair system, but this system isn't fair and we will need to protect our own for a while. Yes, the Chinese buy our soy beans, but they do it with our own money they got by virtually stealing it in the first place.

He probably was.

He did act like he was on weed

3 would be what would have happened IF we were both on the gold standard. But neither of our countries wanted that, so here we are. If indeed the chinese spent their hoard of dollars buying up the US assets, the price of those assets would go up a lot- and inflation of the US dollar would ensue. That would have the effect of making the JUAN more valuable (I think thats what will happen in the end.

#2 wont fix the problem. Free trade wont fix it, since their wages are so low compared with ours, and our products are so expensive for them.

#1 will just lead to #3 but involuntarily

Also, Gary photographs as looking goofy. That does not photogenically work well in this day and age.
Yeah, yeah, I know. The currently swamp-wading Donald (perhaps testing the murky water's temp?) is a Bad Hair Day and raspy chalkboard scratching Cackles The Evil Hag trusted an old person's fart.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3885059...
Trying to remember if I called Johnson "Goofy Gary." Knowing me dino. I likely did.

I don't necessarily disagree with any of your points. I simply reiterate: your focus is on the immediate future rather than the long-term. Our options are:

1. We do nothing - as you seem to advocate. We continue to see US assets purchased by Chinese corporations until the Chinese own more of the US economy than we do. We continue to see US intellectual property siphoned off into the hands of the Chinese. We continue to see US manufacturing capabilities degraded until the point comes that we can't even defend ourselves - or our allies - against Chinese military aggression.

2. We implement tariffs in an attempt to force them to change their trade policies. In the short term, this will mean a hit to US exports to China. In the long run, China is forced to adopt more free market policies and stop government subsidy of their industries. Free trade ensues.

3. We attempt to force them to devalue the yuan and change their monetary policy. This would be very painful for the Chinese because the yuan's value would skyrocket, devaluing their goods. It would in very short order address a large measure of the trade imbalance as prices reflect true market values rather than the manipulated values imposed by the peg.

Only option three pushes the majority of the pain onto China, but as we can't really force them to do this, our options are limited to #1 and #2.

As for your argument regarding the gold standard, again, I don't disagree. But the likelihood of us returning to that is in my estimation so remote (especially in relation to #1, #2, or #3 above) it is forced to the realm of pure speculation.

exactly. if Trump really wants to hurt china, make the tariffs like 200% and there will be massive defections of customers from china. THEN, they might listen and reduce their incoming tariffs and restrictions.

I think in the end, consumers will pay more all around.

Tariff wars might encourage countries with not so large trade imbalances to either set up free trade, or equalize tariffs. But china's prices are so low that most customers will still buy with a 20% incoming tariff anyway- rendering the whole exercise pointness except its a revenue source for OUR government at the expense of consumers.

The last libertarian candidate had NO chance of getting anywhere. Talk about intellectually inconsistent. Decriminalize marijjuana but no other drugs. makes not a lot of sense. if people take them willingly, they all should not carry criminal penalties

Too bad about Trump, he is getting closer to the swamp every day it seems. These trade issues might indeed let the dems win in november.

Yep. Now Brazil and Argentina will be feeding them at somewhat higher prices created by our tariffs eliminating US farmers as competition and cutting the supply.

So the tariffs are not high enough then if they don't cause people to buy local products instead of imports ;^(

A trade imbalance with any one country is meaningless.
What is the trade imbalance of Ohio to Utah? You don't know because it doesn't matter.
What is your personal trade imbalance with your local supermarket? It is enormous, yet you benefit from the interaction!!!
That is what matters folks. If it is a mutually beneficial interaction then allow it to continue.

Absolutely. And our government just takes the money and buys votes with it.