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China Archive

Thursday

7

January 2016

0

COMMENTS

Why Just Stop With Tariffs on China?

Written by , Posted in Economics & the Economy, Free Markets

Noted scholar and respected intellectual Donald Trump has unveiled another part of his plan to “make America great again:”

Donald J. Trump said he would favor a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to the United States, proposing the idea during a wide-ranging meeting with members of the editorial board of The New York Times.

…“I would tax China on products coming in,” Mr. Trump said. “I would do a tariff, yes — and they do it to us.”

Mr. Trump added that he’s “a free trader,” but that “it’s got to be reasonably fair.”

“I would do a tax. and the tax, let me tell you what the tax should be … the tax should be 45 percent,” Mr. Trump said.

Now, I know I’m just a simpleton, but something strikes me as off about this plan. Perhaps The Donald can help a poor confused sap make sense of all this.

Presuming he believes this tariff on goods coming in from China will benefit Americans, why does he not propose similar measures on goods from other countries?

But why stop there. If a tariff on goods coming into the U.S. is good for those within the U.S., then so too must a tariff on goods coming into a state be good for those within that state. Should Florida, then, tax goods made in Texas at 45%, or better yet, do so for goods made in any state other than Florida?

It seems to me that Donald Trump believes taxing goods when they cross borders makes us better off, so I’m having a hard time understanding why he isn’t compassionate enough to want to improve our lot even more by implementing that policy across the board. I mean, it’s all well and good to “make America great again,” but why not make it SUPER DUPER great? Hmm?

Tuesday

29

May 2012

0

COMMENTS

When Special Interests Collide

Written by , Posted in Economics & the Economy, Energy and the Environment

The President has made promotion of “green energy” a central part of his agenda. His efforts have thus far been littered with waste, fraud and abuse, but nevertheless it remains a key plank of the President’s platform.

So why then is his administration slapping tariffs on solar panel imports?

The United States on Thursday announced the imposition of antidumping tariffs of more than 31 percent on solar panels from China.

…The antidumping decision is among the biggest in American history, covering one of the largest and fastest-growing categories of imports from China, the world’s largest exporter.

…Many solar panel installers in the United States have opposed tariffs on Chinese panels, contending that inexpensive imports have helped spur many homeowners and businesses to put solar panels on their rooftops. The new tariffs are likely to mean a substantial increase in the price of solar panels here.

…Chinese officials have been indignant at American criticism of their solar power industry, pointing out that the United States has urged China for years to embrace renewable energy as a way to reduce air pollution, combat climate change and limit the need for oil imports from politically volatile countries in the Mideast.

Chinese confusion is understandable given the rhetoric of this administration.  But there’s more than one special interest in Obama’s coalition, and while environmentalists like the proliferation of solar panels no matter their source, unions and other domestic manufacturing fetishists would rather limit their availability and harm consumers by raising prices in an effort to insulate domestic producers from competition.

“Anti-dumping” rules in general, because they are designed by and cater to these very same special interests, are a counter productive and unnecessary burden on the economy, and often work at cross-purposes with other policy actions, as explained by this video from the Cato Institute:

Tuesday

19

October 2010

0

COMMENTS

China Calls Out Obama's Subsidy Hypocrisy

Written by , Posted in Energy and the Environment, Labor Unions

When Barack Obama promises green subsidies, it’s an energy plan that will create “green jobs” (it isn’t and it won’t, but that’s another story). When China does it, it’s time for an investigation!

China’s top energy official said the U.S. was playing electoral politics with an announcement that it will investigate a union complaint that the Chinese government gives unfair subsidies to its alternative energy industry.

“Does America want to get fair trade or a genuine dialogue, or get transparent information?” National Energy Administration Director Zhang Guobao asked at a Beijing press conference last night. “I think not — it seems America’s main reason is to get votes.”

The U.S. acted on a complaint from the United Steelworkers union that China’s aid to its clean-energy producers violates global trade rules. Accepting the petition may lead the U.S. to file a protest at the World Trade Organization. The complaint, called a Section 301 filing, is the first filed and accepted by President Barack Obama’s administration after his predecessor, George W. Bush, turned down trade complaints against China.

Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress are under increasing pressure ahead of the Nov. 2 congressional elections to take measures to reduce China’s trade surplus. The trade gap widened to a record $28 billion in August, bolstering claims that a weak Chinese currency is hurting American jobs. Last week Montana Democrat Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said a bill targeting China’s yuan may pass the Senate later this year and be sent to Obama for his signature.

And here we go with the trade deficit nonsense again. The “trade gap” is just a fancy way of saying that we get more stuff from China than we have to give them in return. I run a similar deficit with BestBuy, and it’s certainly not a bad thing for me.

But the real point here is the absurdity of an administration that promotes subsidies and protectionism to shield unions from competition – which incidentally raises prices for consumers and reduces overall prosperity – even considering complaining to the WTO when other countries do the same. Obama’s consistent disgust at practicing free trade gives him zero moral authority on the matter.

Tuesday

16

June 2009

1

COMMENTS

We're All Gonna Die! Pt. 20

Written by , Posted in Energy and the Environment, Legislation

We’re All Gonna Die, White House edition:

Man-made climate change threatens to stress water resources, challenge crops and livestock, raise sea levels and adversely affect human health, according to a report released by the Obama administration on Tuesday.

The nearly 200-page document on global climate change — released by the White House science adviser and mandated by Congress — does not include new research, but encompasses several recent studies on the effects of global warming over the last half century.

In other words, the White House has rehashed the usual scare-mongering in order to drum up “support” for the upcoming vote on the Waxman-Markey, cap and trade disaster.  In a press release, Sen. Inhofe correctly noted “that despite millions of dollars spent on alarmist advertising, the American public remains rightly skeptical of the so-called ‘consensus’ on global warming.”

Right on cue, the White House’s propaganda arm (MSM) made sure you aren’t being fooled by the nice weather and, you know, general lack of anything approaching Armageddon.

With a cooler-than-usual winter and a mild temperatures leading up to the beginning of summer, global warming alarmists are finding they are losing steam in the debate. But “NBC Nightly News” won’t give up the fight.

…”This less-than-beach-like weather may have you wondering about global warming,” Thompson said. “This cold spell is a snapshot, just a couple of weeks. Global warming is something that happens over decades and centuries. So hang in there, summer and its warmth is on the horizon.”

That news of warm weather and theory of global warming was reassuring for Williams. “Glad to hear that. I was beginning to worry,” he said.

Lest you get too worked up, I am pleased to be able to inform you that our generous leader has a solution: money for the Chicoms!

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said that there was “no question” that China would receive both financial and technological assistance from the United States as part of upcoming climate change talks to be conducted in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“This is a developing country issue, which includes China,” Stern told reporters on Friday.  “I think there is no question that a Copenhagen agreement is going to have to include mechanisms to provide the financial flows and technological assistance to developing countries.”

About Me

profileI serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.

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