Another China Tariff in the US

While watching MickMake, he made mention of an import tax of 25% from China goods. This will effect a lot of us DIYers who buy our electronic components from China. Mick makes the comment that if you can, buy as much as you can now before everything goes upJuly 6th

The link below takes you directly to timestamp of his comments.

25% tax and all that is something we have had in Sweden since day 1 Now including a fee of 10USD per package... Even though the package is only worth 2USD....

Sheesh, that's ridiculous. But, at least your whole economy is already functioning with it. Here in the US, it's a new change that will drastically shift economics here. Solar panels will rise at least 25% across the board. Now a majority of the electronic components will cause the cost of locally built electronics to go up as well. And who knows how far reaching that will be. Could the price of milk go up $2 because the cost of maintenance on the machinery costs more now because the cost of the electronic parts now cost more? How about all the other food stuffs!? Might take a couple years, but I expect the prices across the board to go up quite a bit. grrrr

I'm always puzzled by the attitude towards taxing "subsidised" exports. If a country is willing to export at a cost to them a product, which can then be used and leveraged to make the buying country better why on earth would you then tax the import ? The tax is protecting a few local jobs at the expense of many new industries, new jobs and the end users, complete lack of long term planning, inginuity and imagination. As in the matrix, it is an inevitability as to the damage the "protection" taxes are doing.

Then allow me to enlighten you.

You see when countries have large amounts of people uneducated in macro economics who can be easily manipulated, a populist politician (who probably knows better or at least has access to people that do) can make simple claims that appeal to their sense of nationality and "trade fairness" in order to do thing's that ultimately are probably more damaging to that countries future (and those same voters job prospects), but still help that politicians popularity in the short term.

Compound that with the fact that said politician has already proven several times over that he doesn't care about the damage he is doing to his countries economy, relationship with it's allies, or even standing in the world, and you have a recipe for many other short term populist moves that help him win votes.

Heck we're actively working right now to build a wall between us and about the ONLY source of labor willing to do large amount of undesirable jobs no American wants to do! Including but not limited to: cleaning toilets, mowing grass and picking fruit in the hot sun.

Don't expect this to be the last tariff you see coming from our leadership.

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And yes technically you are right. China's government was subsidizing the cost of (mostly) low value goods they produced so that we Americans could take advantage and pay the Chinese even less than we should have and keep more of our money. And now we have thrown that away, so that a few American fat cat corporations can take more money out of the pockets of Americans instead.

But you see, that explanation makes a voter's head spin. It's just so much easier to say "China's stealing our jobs! Lets do something about it!".

"who probably knows better" : Trump is trying to run the country like a business and country economics don't work that way. He will get re-elected, Democrats have destroyed themselves, unless Opra runs.. Then it would be Regan all over again.

China has just been exporting deflation to the US and while it had been beneficial the need for inflation as QE unwinds is even more apparent. More tarifs as you say.

3D chess with a clown