IseWolf22 said:
SupplyChainPack said:
IseWolf22 said:
SupplyChainPack said:
IseWolf22 said:
I apparently missed a ton the several days I haven't been looking at this thread. There is way too much to even attempt to respond to.
"What good things has Trump actually done?" should probably be it's own thread so this one doesn't go even further afield. He HAS done some good things. He's also done a lot of bad things. But specifically to those who thing we are "winning" the trade war. How? Almost every economist thinks protectionism is bad and the trade war has been a drag on an otherwise well functioning economy. It's increased the price of imports, both for consumers and for manufacturers who all rely on global supply chains.
https://reason.com/2019/12/27/trumps-trade-war-has-hurt-american-manufacturers-more-than-it-helped-them/
Did it cross your radar at all that China just unleashed a horrible virus on the world, and then we (and the world) had to rely heavily on this very same country for much of our PPE to deal with that very same virus?
What do your economists have to say about that?
They'd say that the US medical supply chain is pretty resilient and China ($13.5 Billion) is only the 4th largest supplier of medical supplies to the US behind Switzerland ($15.5 billion), Germany ($19.6 billion), and Ireland ($27.9 billion).
They'd say that this trade also benefits us as we are China buys more medical supplies from us than from anyone else except Germany. They'd say that global supply chains reduce costs for everyone and increase manufacturing efficiency.
It reminds me of what an economist said one time:. "You can't eat GNP" when referring to loss of farms.
There are factors - not the least of which- is national security - which are vastly more important than the fact that China can produce PPE a few cents cheaper per unit than US manufacturers.
Being dependant on the very country that unleashed this catastrophe on us should have made this point manifestly obvious.
There are numerous other reasons why we need to curtail our dependence on China.
While you are reading up on these economists, please note of if any of them have anything to say about externalities.
We are dependent on global trade, not one nation in particular. That actually makes our supply chain more resilient, not less. What happens if disaster strikes production within the US and we can't easily get replacements from other countries? Protectionism begets retaliation and increases costs and risk.
And when the Pandemic hit, global production of PPE increased dramatically to meet demand, including in the US. Yay capitalism. Unfortunately our stockpiles were low because of two things. First, years of failure to keep national stockpiled filled (this predates Trump). Second, many hospitals were holding off on refilling their own supply because they were hoping to ride out the trade war and avoid paying the tariffs.
Have no issue with international trade in general. However, overdependence on one particular nation is not wise, as it puts us at risk in multiple factors. That's for any nation.
Add to that that this nation is an ambitious, aggressor nation - it becomes very foolish to become over reliant on them.
Add to that that it is an utterly unscrupulous nation -. IP theft, patent infringement, making companies sign insane agreements to do business in their country.....
Add to that they use their technological advancements, ostensibly for civilian use, to spy on other countries....
Add to that that they are regularly engaged in identity theft of our private citizens.....
Add to that that that they are cutting private deals with many of our STEM professors and tech leaders to steal away research that was hard earned, and usually paid for by taxpayer dollars...
Add to that that they use their enormous revenues to build up their military to use against us....
Add to that that this nation has now substantially thrown in with the Iranians....
Add to that their aggression against their neighbors...
Add to that there abismal list of human rights abuses. ("I'll take things we used to care about for 1000, Alex").....
There is more to add.... but that will suffice for now....