EU prepares sweeping tariffs on hundreds of US imports from cranberries to motorboats

In the final analysis, people who buy things will pay more, but the people who make things will see no increase in pay or profit. Ya gotta wonder where the money is going to go.:mad:
 
The Chinese impose tariffs on imports, they also pay companies to export in the form of tax credits or VAT negative rates (ie sell $1 on an export invoice and get a tax refund on your Sales tax bill). They pick and choose the industries to protect with tariffs eg automotive and the one they help with the export rebates to suit the technology they (meaning the Govt) are after (battery technology is one). On the surface its a market economy but then when you look at the banks that provide the export guarantees, export funding and who owns those banks it all leads back to their Govt and a 5 year plan. So in exchange for low cost manufacture the west has sold the crown jewels, too late now the deed is done.
 
What Trump is doing is dangerous, but it might be right. Neoliberal globalism is good in theory, but when you are dealing with a bottomless and flexible communist economy, you might find its limitations. The Australian dollar is now at an all-time low. That is supposed to be good for our manufacturing industry - or what remains of it. Yet all is still doom and gloom in the media. A lot of our blue-collar jobs have gone offshore so there are social consequences, yet the conservative government claims our economy is improving while the national debt is increasing. While we are buying most manufactured goods from China the shareholders in the retail outlets are doing very well, but others are not.
 
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And the retail workers are some of the lowest payed workers around and forced to work hours away from families, is it really worth it in the long run, the rich get richer and the low income workers still suffer.

Ashley
 
When Thatcher and Reagan got into neoliberalism, it was probably more about crushing the unions than anything else. Anyway that seems to have been the outcome. What is forgotten is that 'continual improvement' is a two way street and industrial democracy plays a part in achieving excellence. But perhaps that does not matter, we have accepted crap products for eons - 'Fit for purpose' ? Forget about attention to detail. What interests me is the disregard for public safety as in the Grenfell Towers fire.
 
I’m certainly no trade war expert.

I imagine I’m just like most folk in seeing it as rather worrying as to where it will go / end.

Despite what folk say about Trump, I personally doubt he is unintelligent enough to have not expected retaliation from the EU and China.

So, I can only conclude he did therefore expect it, or even wanted it. I presume he’s playing a bigger game here.

But I do fear that, whatever his end game is, he is putting huge numbers of working peoples livelyhoods at stake, huge numbers of US workers livelyhoods too...
 
Fast Eddie said:
I’m certainly no trade war expert.

I imagine I’m just like most folk in seeing it as rather worrying as to where it will go / end.

Despite what folk say about Trump, I personally doubt he is unintelligent enough to have not expected retaliation from the EU and China.

So, I can only conclude he did therefore expect it, or even wanted it. I presume he’s playing a bigger game here.

But I do fear that, whatever his end game is, he is putting huge numbers of working peoples livelyhoods at stake, huge numbers of US workers livelyhoods too...
Click to expand...


I am no expert on trade either but Trump is putting American workers first and that is reflected in the unemployment numbers. Maybe other countries should do the same and protect their workers, it isn't a one way street.
 
I’ve nothing against that.
But surely, when reciprocal tariffs kick in, and US exports are hit, so will US jobs?
 
Well he wouldn't be where he is today with out some brains it could work for him or he could fall pretty hard only time will tell, hes already has had a few turn arounds from pressure put on him, but I think he is a smart man as well a powerfull man but if he fails there will be big problems and if he succeeds who knows what will happen.

Ashley
 
I believe free trade is better than protectionism. But the ideology tends to bring everyone down to the level of the lowest common denominator or the lowest common denominator must come up to our level. America obviously has OHS&E and Labour laws - what do the Chinese have ? Trump is simply being populist to promote his own interests, by doing what we all feel should be done but sensibly must not be done. It is a play on emotions. It was the American lobby groups through ANSI who stymied production of an ISO certification standard for health and safety management systems. It could have been called up in FTAs as ISO9000 and ISO14000 are already. I wonder what those lobby groups now think of Trump - he is going in the opposite direction.
 
"Harley-Davidson will move some production out of US after retaliatory tariffs"
 
And Harley estimate that:

"On a full-year basis, the company estimates the aggregate annual impact due to the EU tariffs to be approximately $90 to $100m."
 
After starting what is rapidly becoming a trade war, by the implimentation of tarrifs, we’re now told this:

"President Trump will continue to push for free, fair and reciprocal trade, in hopes that the EU will join us," Ms Sanders said.

Can anyone explain the logic?
 
Attention-seeking and anything will do. It is all about ego. Perhaps Trump's idea of free trade is the Greater American Co-prosperity Sphere ?
 
Mark said:
"Harley-Davidson will move some production out of US after retaliatory tariffs"
Click to expand...
You are quite right, Mark.
Well, it didn’t take long but Trump has chided HD because in response to the EU tariff they have plans to shift the production of some of its bikes out of the US in response to Europe’s new tariffs on motorcycle imports, but they haven’t said which countries.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...davidson-production-us-eu-tariffs-motorcycles

Trump simply doesn’t realise that manufactures and retailers have to adapt or die. As trump is already a bankrupted businessman at least once (Look it up!) he still seems to be living in the stone age- HD exported 40,000 bikes to exported Europe last year its biggest market outside the US, and the EU tariff would put £1,6550 extra on each bike. So if HD still lose jobs, you know who to blame!
 
Bernhard:

I think tRump has gone bankrupt three times over the years. I think he expected to be the "CEO of the USA", not having realised that he only controlled the Presidency.
 
Don't let the mantra of "jobs" creation fool you. The jobs being created pay low wages and cannot sustain a household.
 
Fast Eddie said:
After starting what is rapidly becoming a trade war, by the implimentation of tarrifs, we’re now told this:

"President Trump will continue to push for free, fair and reciprocal trade, in hopes that the EU will join us," Ms Sanders said.

Can anyone explain the logic?
Click to expand...

Yeah, Germany taxes our imported cars. From my understanding, there is a 19% import value added tax and a 10% import duty, so 29% tax. The US taxes german imported cars at 2.5%

That seems fair to you, right??
 
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