Elections have consequences, and those consequences are dire for free market dogmatists in the Republican Party.
The tariff debate is over. President Donald Trump won, and it is not even close. Americans overwhelmingly support efforts to punish countries like China for their unfair trade practices. Even President Joe Biden, who ran blatantly misrepresenting the Trump economic record, has kept the Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum in place.
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Every time I hear about a tariff, I have to laugh over John Deere deciding just a few months ago to move their operations down to Mexico due to cheaper labor costs down there.
I like the concept, but will it work? We used to be a major manufacturing nation (when tariffs worked well) but now the materials needed to manufacture are mainly imported due to our limited supply of natural resources (rare earth elements).
ReplyDeleteThere is no limited supply of rare earth elements in the USA / Canada. There is a limited supply of politicians willing to enact policies which promote such. The few we do not have a vast supply of can easily be rectified by thoughtful engineering - remember, we built the first thermonuclear device and went to the moon using a slide rule.
DeleteIf you use the tariffs to punish the shit out of people who over-tariff our goods coming into their country, do a complete reciprocal, then, yes, tariffs work like crazy.
DeleteTrump did this to China his first term and a bunch of companies bailed on China due to that very reason.
First time I read about doing this is in Tom Clancy's "Debt of Honor," where a crappy gas tank, in a Jap-made car, that didn't have proper rust protection or sealer caused a fire that burnt a family and some other people. So the President at the time pushes through reciprocal trade tariffs and inspections and collapsed the Japanese economy.
If we did to Red China what Red China does to us in tariffs and penalties, we could shut down Red China in a month.
As a country the USA operated only on tariffs until the Income Tax was passed as a Constitutional amendment supposedly only to be used against the Rich in 1913. After that the law was changed to use Income Tax against all levels of income. Tariffs had controlled what came in and out of the country in terms of business and how the country made money from it.
ReplyDeleteExactly, and it fostered all of the home grown industries we had, until the Chamber of Commerce and idiot lawmakers gave tax breaks to businesses moving their manufacturing off shore. Talk about idiocracy.
DeleteAs to John Deere, I hope they go bankrupt. When a tractor or combine owner is denied the repair breakdowns where and how the owner see fit, there's definitely something wrong with that business model.
The they wonder why Mahindra and Kubota are taking market share every day.
Dumbasses
Nemo
I took a couple of jd prints to get them framed for Christmas gifts. I had that very discussion with the shop's owner. She was of the liberal mind how tariffs were going to hurt jobs until I explained how those tariffs would've kept those jobs from going in the first place and keep jobs here in the future. I think I saw a light go on in her head.
ReplyDelete-lg
I believe it is now called Juan Queer.
ReplyDeleteFitty
Yep John Deere along with car most electrical and plumbing and tool manufacturers ..
ReplyDeleteJD
John Deere's move to Mexico was a business decision, pure and simple, and not personal. And in that spirit, Juan Deere can kiss both sides of my ass, also a business decision, pure and simple, as well as personal, because that's the kind of sumbitch I am.
ReplyDeleteCompanies have to do what is best for their company, shareholders, debt holders, employees, etc. BLAME the current administration, state regulations, local regulations, taxes in general, etc. for these moves. They certainly aren't about hating America in general, but hating what America has become under democrat/RINO control. It also doesn't help that there is ZERO regime stability in our country. Government at any level should NEVER have been ALLOWED this much power to pick and choose winners, regulate anyone or any business, etc. to this extent. A country can ONLY be successful when its government is so powerless that the CONSUMER, not the politicians, decide what is best. That can ONLY happen when government is NEUTERED and hopefully Trump will begin that process. But the voters on BOTH sides of the aisle have to push for more and more cuts.
ReplyDeleteBEFORE you MAKE any MORE statements ABOUT poor John DEERE only DOING BEST for the company, shareholders, debt holders, employees, etc. BE sure to watch THIS video FIRST.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmbXS5zYrFs&t=1s
I believe she's got a follow-up video, too.
While John Deere isn't the only POS company in the US, they are the latest and most glaring example of taking advantage of Government policies for the sole benefit of the executive and some of the top-tier shareholders (do not forget, not all shares are equal in publicly-traded companies.) They display charades of lowering costs in order to have a market advantage, when they have most likely been colluding with other manufacturers to increase prices AND ensure the average mechanic is unable to perform any repairs. John Deere deserves to be nailed with crippling tariffs and also be forced into listing all of the parts on their machinery which are made in USA - that list will likely fill less than half a page.
DeleteI live in a rural area with lots of farming around me. One of the most often complaint from farmers here is about their JD tractors.. They don't hold up and their propierty codes that they hate to share keeps the tractors inoperable when they are most needed
DeleteJD
I read that a number of countries are working to move back the America. They include General Motors, GE Appliances, Intel, U.S. Steel, and Lockheed Martin. I also have seen rumblings of Ford moving back to the states as well.
DeleteI would hope that most everyone can agree that Trump will make America much better for domestic production. And his policies will spur oil companies to start to drill again, often using fracking in that endeavor. Fracking is nothing new, having started back in I believe the late 1920's. America has enough untapped energy reserves to meet our needs for over the next 100 years. And our energy companies continue to discover new and better means of production that increase the yield and decrease the environmental impact.
Despite what the Democrats like to say, conservatives and Republicans do not want to destroy the planet and our natural resources. But we are smart enough to figure out ways to safely tap into energy while at the same time protecting our delicate areas from being destroyed.
Democrat tariffs are double plus awesome greatness. Republican tariffs are terrible economy killing retaliation.
ReplyDeleteIf Trump could some how get Hollywood, Disney and all the actors moved to Iran I bet he'd agree not to put tarrifs on their movies
ReplyDeleteIran: "If you send us those infidels from Hollywood and Disney, we will execute them all!"
DeleteTrump: "Would you prefer they are sent by plane or boat?"
I've been the victim twice of multi-national corporations fucking up perfectly running, profitable companies in America. I've also seen many companies that we partnered with have the same fate.The only thing worse, is the federal government. Greed. Plain and simple. They fuck the workers who got them there in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThirty plus years ago, John Deere made tractors that were Engineered, and to a lesser degree the Case, International, Fords. Their competition was from cheap imports Kubota, Zetor, Mohindra. Tin and cast iron against real steel. Consolidation as European companies bought up the other brands. They had to have two lanes: Real work horses and the cheap line for the Urban farmer. Get the cheap import company to make it for you.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the pool of world wide demand for Real work horses declines, less units to spread the cost over in an inflationary world.
Tariffs could have been used more effectively in the past to lower the threat but the tide is still going to run you over sooner or later. Kubota actually makes some half way decent bigger tractors. But they got there because the overall bar is lower also. It was not a meeting in the middle with still great Quality.
Personally I'm attached to 50 & 40 series Deeres. They are still repairable, no DEF, no drive by wire.
Jerry
The quality of JD products declined a long time ago.... A friend bought a JD lawn tractor for his 1 acre yard back in 1997 or 98, the deck rusted out in 18 months and the frame a year or so later.. He bought a Husqvarna in 2005 or 06 and except for regular oil changes and belt adjustments he hasn't done anything to it and it looks and runs like new
DeleteJD
Moving to Mexico to confound the UAW, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteCC