Are you are saying that foreign governments are generating revenue for the US government, but the US consumer if actually paying the tariff, not the foreign government? So.... they are paying, but not actually paying? You guys focus too much on the technical and lose sight of the big picture.
Keep in mind that we are charging tariffs to allow us to be competitive with other nations, notably China. That's the entire point. You can still buy Chinese goods, but you will pay what you would pay to get it from an American manufacturer. It is a way of enforcing fair trade concepts that have not, over the last 10-15 years, worked for the United States.
Hence, while the tariffs essentially offset each other in many cases, the United States is a net winner because we have the productivity that we didn't have before. For example, will be producing aluminum for sale in the United States rather than importing it from who-knows-where but mostly China.
The tariff isn't the end game. It encourages the economic substitution of American goods for Chinese goods.
I see it as a huge inconsistency that you don't want us to insist on China paying a "living wage" but you feel your local Big Mac should be based on a living wage. Is it not intuitively obvious that you cannot, at scale, have your cake and eat it, too? |
