A Ray Of Sunlight

I like the last paragraph myself.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/10/china-trade-yuan-cx_cn_po_0810trade.html?partner=yahootix

27 per cent is a bit stiff, wouldn't you say?

Whay not a warm, cozy ten per cent duty?

No one would get seriously bent out of shape.

Whay single China out? Ten per cent isn't much on an individual purchase, I think it should be an across the board duty.

Uncle needs the money.

Australia has a 10% import duty on goods from the U.S. - There is a 27% duty on goods imported from Taiwan and China. Apparently they feel this is fair and reasonable from their end of things.

The problem with any tariff is that it doesn't go directly...or even indirectly, to the businesses that are directly hurt by unfair competition.

Like imposing a tax on oil companies for windfall profits, it doesn't relieve the consumer, we just end up paying defacto higher taxes.

I'd be more comfortable with tariffs in general if they were applied directly to the industries affected, and not just poured into the general laundry fund for uncle to build a bridge to nowhere.

tariffs are 1800's.....

don't solve the problem at all..

The US Taxpayer PAYS for port upgrades - so we can import cheap goods.. Tariff will not affect

The Taxpayer pays for transport infrastructure.. like roads and rail subsidies.. not the importer...

US Gov't subsidizes export of jobs from the US... (!!!) why?

there is a long list of things that MATTER... the lease is Tariffs...

Just making importers pay the cost will matter a lot.

I agree that tariffs are a joke. If the government stopped subsidizing shipping; we would have one nasty tariff that no one could bitch about. Imagine airlines, railroads, port authorities, and other clowns fixing their own infrastructure. The new buzzword would be local realization of product.

I especially like the tax breaks for moving to developing countries. My employer gets paid to pack up profitable operations to third world countries. We were told they make six percent more profit in Mexico. Thanks be to the taxman. We lost two thousand jobs last year from my local plant, moving operations offshore. Our newsletter bragged about how many million was realized through tax savings and incentives. Gotta' keep those pheasants happy.

Even though Chinese products are cheap there
is still a huge mark up from most importers
believe it or not. The importing companies
could eat a 27% mark up and still sell at the same prices while making a handsome profit,
I don't think it'll help USA manufacturers at all,
just a way for the government to get more
tax dollars and create more government jobs.

The problem with any tariff is that it doesn't go directly...or even indirectly, to the businesses that are directly hurt by unfair competition

Click to expand...

Giving a hand out to the companies protected by the tariffs will hurt them in the long term because they get used to the easy ride and fail to invest in inovation and efiency

A Tariff is a government action. It is not to be a hand out to anyone, one of it's purposes is collecting revenue for the government.

Another of it's purposes is the protection of domestic industries from unfair, rapacious or dangerous foreign competition.

Tariffs have their rightful place in world trade. It is a legal way for governments to interfere with and regulate foreign trade. They are a part of a nation's government's governing rsponsibilities.

A tariff won't protect an inefficeint company in the market. If by the tariff the price of an import is close to the price of a domestic product, the better of the two will be chosen.

Here we have to depend on the government. They shouldn't be allowed to misuse the power to levy tariffs by either not doing so or doing so excessively.

This is simple stuff, however those who are playing to an advantage through low or non existing tariffs have commandeered our media and have spread the "Tariff is bad" message.