Let's talk Tariffs...

[Benton]

(05-15-2019, 08:13 AM)Au165 Wrote: Your over simplification of this is a bit concerning. Those aren't Apple employees manufacturing those phones, those are Foxcon employees building those phones. Most companies don't actually produce their own sell-able goods, some assemble them however most still acquire a lot of the materials and assembly from contracted manufacturing. This isn't just a big company thing either, small private companies use contract manufacturing to get sell-able goods.

Either way, in your example the tax disadvantage is your deterrent not the tariff itself. As I continue to say, tariffs do not work. The only way they will work is when foreign market workers demand similar wages as those in America when you factor in the transportation of the finished goods and time. The reason this will never happen is because there will always be emerging countries looking to take over that manufacturing to try and improve their economy. 

Somewhere between my over simplification and your... concerning... under simplification (I mean really, it's not that dramatic) is the reality of it. Which, honestly, isn't the same reality for any one company or any one industry.

As to my example, no that wasn't in reference to the tariff, only your comment that manufacturing jobs aren't coming back. Tariffs can assist with it, if, like I said, there's an incentive for companies. The current method of giving them tax breaks to leave isn't working.

As far as foreign market workers, it's already happening. Chinese workers are demanding better conditions and wages and it's putting the government in a difficult spot, as they can't subsidize labor forever. So companies are already moving to other Asian and African countries. But the end of the day, they still need somewhere to sell their stuff. Right now, that's here. We buy stuff. We buy huge volumes of stuff. That stuff buying gives us some leverage to push companies into where they locate their workforce. It's time we started using that leverage instead of just saying "Oh no, it's all over!"