Comment on How can you oppose tariffs, while supporting a hardline against China on Taiwan?
RBWells@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Nobody is “against tariffs” - they are used everywhere. We are against this ridiculous random implementation that makes no sense. Mr. Trump is not using them like a scalpel, to grow manufacturing here, I don’t think he cares about that. He seems to think they are some way to bully other countries into doing what he wants.
As I stated, yes, the implementation is a clusterfuck. But unless we’re moving to a planned economy, aren’t widespread tariffs and increased costs necessary to force manufacturing to come back to the states?
It sounds like the warhawks in the Dems and GOP want war with China sometime this decade. How do you go to war with your manufacturing partner, and not crash the economy?
No, they could use other means to reinvigorate manufacturing here, if that is even their goal. I tend to agree that this race to the bottom was a mistake, the chasing ever cheaper labor hasn’t done anything for the majority. But it’s only one part of the inequality we are suffering here. There is no method to the madness as far as I can tell. And to your last point (crashing the economy) I can’t even tell if they care about that.
What other means?
Where I live, they prop up companies with tax breaks, subsidies, sometimes will reimburse for wages even, to try to get businesses to establish and employ here.
That “chips act” was a national version, right?
We could also just do a lot more redistribution from the top, and try to advantage small businesses more. You can’t do everything from the top, a lot of a real economy has to grow from the ground, right? Nationalize healthcare so it’s not employer-based to encourage entrepreneurship.
I’m sure there are many more actions that could be taken - there is a huge opportunity for improvement in our economy but most of it relates to breaking up the top and growth from the bottom.
Tariffs are a tool, sure. But not the only one, and I’m not convinced they are tackling our main economic issues here, at all, certainly not as implemented. As one part of a more comprehensive progressive reform they might help but that’s not the way these guys roll.
thewanderingbackpack@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
lol tariffs won’t really help, they will only escalate war