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Should the U.S. continue to apply tariffs?

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Max_Air29melef
  1. Live Poll

    ?

    6 votes
    1. Yes
      50.00%
    2. No
      50.00%
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  • Polaris95Polaris95 147 Pts   -  
    The tariffs are not only hurting America's own economy, but that of other countries as well. Not to mention the many companies harmed by the tariffs.
    Max_Air29
  • Max_Air29Max_Air29 84 Pts   -   edited July 2018
    @Polaris95 , I understand your concern regarding the tariffs hurting the U.S. economy, but I disagree with that argument. The U.S. currently has a huge trade deficit worth billions of dollars with many countries. If that deficit is removed or reduced, the United States economy could generate a large amount of additional revenue through trade which would be extremely beneficial to the U.S. As @Polaris95 said, the U.S. economy could be harmed. That could be true, but only in the short term.
  • WordsMatterWordsMatter 493 Pts   -  
    I've seen economists estimate that if a full scale trade way e broke out between the US and China, China stands to lose 1% gdp growth annually, while the US would lose about .2%. it's absolutely true that America is the stronger economy and on paper looks like the obvious winner, buy here's the one thing people forget. The quality of life in America is significantly greater than that in China. Almost 2/3 of the Chinese population is still agrarian to this day. The average American stands to lose way more than the average Chinaman. I think as long as the Chinese government is willing to take some punches they can Outlast the US in this. Which population is more likely to speak out against their government and demand change first?

    Even in this first round of tariffs, the Chinese are switching from American cherries, to locally grown ones. They are losing sweetness in their cherries. China put tariffs on products that go into things like vaporizers. Now who is more likely to whine, the Chinese farmer who's cherries aren't as sweet or the American who is paying more for their vaporizer? I know one of those two countries tends to be a little more entitled.

    Finally, long term, the US stands to potentially lose a lot. If the global market is able to start copichip away at their reliance on the US market, it will be difficult for the US to re-enter whatever markets they lost. For example South America is already ramping up soy bean production for the Chinese market. If they are given the time to develop their soy farms then the US soy products won't be able to compete with Brazilian soy prices.
  • MayCaesarMayCaesar 5965 Pts   -  
    @Max_Air29

    Tariffs can only reduce trade deficit if the net income from the resulting trade exceeds the net income from before the taxes are implemented. This is almost never the case, especially in the modern globalized economy, where nearly 200 markets are available to every private company. 

    Let me give you a real world example. One of my best friends lives in Finland, and I wanted to send her a box with presents a couple of years ago. Little did I know that Finland employs a 30% "tariff" (it isn't really classified as a tariff, but it has the same function) on all individual gifts - meaning that, whatever I send to her, must be evaluated in terms of monetary value, and 30% should be paid to the Finnish government over it. I sent her the present. I wanted to sent another present a year later as well, but she was strongly against it, because she didn't want to pay another 30% to the government - hence I didn't send anything.
    So, I sent presents worth ~$200, and the nation received $260. Good deal, right? Well, if it had not been for this tariff, I would send presents worth ~$200 next year as well, and the nation would have received a total of $400 instead - which is much better.

    The problem with tariffs is that they discourage the partners from trading, hence the net trading value tends to drop significantly, even if the individual deals are more profitable. If you make 1000 deals, earning $100 off each, you still end up with larger trade deficit, than if you make 1,000,000 deals, earning merely $1 off each.
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