Too bad, wrong praxis. Self interest eclipsing ideals. Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.-- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Jefferson was a slave owner till the day he died, is my understanding. Again, wrong praxis. However, their praxis does not the dilute the essence or truth of the concept. It is their problem. The context of the times enters in too. However, that does not make the lofty ideal worthless. Wrong praxis means "they PERSONALLY ain't practicing what they preach"
I am glad you brought up the service trade between US and China. Let's examine it shall we? Yes you are right there is a trade surplus in service trade between US and China. I will take year 2022 as an example. In 2022, U.S. exports of services to China were an estimated $41.5 billion and the U.S. imports of services from China were an estimated $26.6 billion resulting a trade surplus of $14.9 billion. Wow!! US is finally making some money in international trade!! Woohoo!! But US's trading with China is Goods and Services so let's see how much did we export and import to/from China on the goods side? In the same year, Exports were $195.5 billion; imports were $562.9 billion. The U.S. goods and services trade deficit with China was $367.4 billion in 2022. https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/peoples-republic-china#:~:text=U.S. goods and services trade,was $367.4 billion in 2022. $14.9 billion surplus in services in exchange for a $367 billion deficit in goods, 24 times than the surplus in trades in services!! Really??!! So much for being a "leader in services" for just making $14.9 billion extra just so we can spend over $367 billion more to buy shit. LOL Remind me again why we trade with other countries? Is it just to give away money? And mind you, this is after the supply chain diversification that Biden implemented to reduce the reliance on China's exports. Imagine how much was the deficit before Trump' efforts to balance the trade during his first term? For that $367 billion deficit, are we really buying everything from China that cheap? Aside from the pollution of making some goods, what's the difference between spending $367 billion more to buy the goods from China and just making the same shit locally in the USA when we already have all of the raw material and the energy resources? Are we really going to spend $367 billion more to make them locally in America? Are we really that inefficient? Is China that much more efficient than USA in making these goods? Yes this was the choice made by the government elected by the people but clearly nobody was doing the math and math never lies. And like I said, our choice needs some adjustments.
My main point is that making a campaign promise to slap on 40% tariffs and claim china is paying it feeds into the ignorance of the U.S. population. In reality a huge tariff is a sales tax on the American public complaining about costs. Also, we need to be honest......Americans want inexpensive stuff and most do not care we have a trade deficit with China because it means they can afford, TVs, iphones, etc.. Made in America has meaning to a too small subset to change policy. VAT taxes have been around for decades and are an already accepted cost. a 40% tariff let's say is a direct additional spike in costs that does not achieve a magic end to produce more in the U.S. A 40% tax on toys form china will not create a toy industry in the U.S. because the investment and cost is prohibitive. Government cannot expect to change consumer behavior with a tax. If Chinese made basketballs were found to be made by kids and exploitation, then a tariff on those items could lead to social change and a search for another supplier (Walmart and other retailers did that when child labor was discovered). A targeted tariff behind an issue or harm can work. TO say China has eaten our lunch and we need to tax the shit out of their imports while convincing people they are not paying for it is crazy....but here we are.
You dont get it.... AMericans want to buy cheap shit..... you can do whatever you want...but until you clean your house out of everything made in Asia you are being a hypocrite.
Hard to do until manufacturing comes back to America which is precisely what Mr T wants to achieve. Until then we are stuck with cheap stuff. Stop the flood of cheap imports with tariffs then if we want the same products but made in the USA then we will have to ante up and pay the price.
Mr T cannot convince manufacturing to come back to US because...drum roll...it is too expensive. You guys have to stop just believing empty statements and look at realities... Why would apple decide to make iphones here unless you give them huge tax breaks, government subsidies, and deficit spending to offset the cost. A company that moved its plant to Mexico is because it is economically viable to do so. Ante up and pay the price.... didnt you elect trump because you blamed him for inflation?? Now you are ok jacking up the price of goods simply to say Made in the US? You are just spouting Fox news statements with no thought of the economics. If I have a plant in Mexico to save money to be viable, you are not going to drag me back to US unless you give me a shit load of money. Why do we want products made in the U.S. if all we care about is how much something costs.
You will come back if tariffs make it too expensive to manufacture in Mexico and send to the USA or you will go out of business. You will find a way to make it work in the USA!