Skip to content
All about finance. — Politics — General-news — Finance — Truth — Business

Custom Duties Equate to Plundering Goods

U.S.-China Trade Tensions Escalate: China Retaliates with Tariffs on U.S. Agricultural Goods following President Trump's Tariff Hike on Chinese Exports. (LewRockwell.com; Ron Paul, MD)

,   and  Administrator
3 min read
Escalating Trade Tensions: China retaliates to US tariff hikes by imposing up to 15% tariffs on...
Escalating Trade Tensions: China retaliates to US tariff hikes by imposing up to 15% tariffs on major American agricultural exports, signifying a potential escalation towards a full-blown trade war.

Custom Duties Equate to Plundering Goods

New and Improved Article:

It ain't no secret that the US and China are eyeball-to-eyeball in a potential trade war. China whacked US agricultural exports with a 15% tariff after Trump upped the ante by jacking up tariffs on Chinese goods from 10% to 20%.

China's tit-for-tat tariffs are a grim reminder of how free-market industries catch a raw deal in the face of protectionist policies. Even if other nations keep their mitts off imposing retaliatory tariffs, exporters still take a hit thanks to smaller demand for their wares in markets painfully nipped by US tariffs. Businesses that rely on imported goods to churn out their products also feel the burn from increased production costs due to these pesky tariffs. In a nod to the toll tariffs take on US manufacturers, Trump granted a one-month reprieve on new tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports.

Many hard-up consumers are scratching their heads as they watch their wallets shrink with Trump's tariff strategy. And why not? They're darn right to feel concerned. Contrary to popular belief, it ain't the foreign businesses footing the bill for tariffs, it's good ol' American businesses hankering to sell imported goods. When the tariffs go up, these importing businesses try to recoup their losses by hiking prices, which leaves consumers in a pickle: shell out the higher dough, hunt for cheaper alternatives, or go without the product. No matter which path they choose, they're losers 'cause they ain't spending their cash the way they dig.

While tariffs may give a short-term boost to protected businesses, they risk propping up businesses that are better off folding their tents so the bosses and workers can migrate to greener pastures that would better serve the economy as a whole.

Supporters of tariffs, including ol' Trump himself, claim the extra dough from tariffs can be used to make up for the dough the government loses from tax cuts. Some even dream of tax reduction El Dorado, where zero income tax is on the horizon thanks to the almighty tariffs. The catch is that the tariffs will only fill the government's coffers if consumers keep buying foreign goodies in the face of higher prices. Thus, for the tariffs to bring dough to the government, they can't be blood-sucking beasts that discourage American consumers from snatching up foreign merchandise. The higher the tariffs, the more they'll tank the goal of increasing domestic purchases.

According to the Tax Foundation, Trump's full-tilt tariff plan for China, Mexico, and Canada would hike the federal tax revenue by a cool $142 billion this year, placing an average tax burden of over a thousand bucks per house. On top of the economic downturn that comes with such a move, it's essential to consider the decline in consumer satisfaction caused by the government forcing them to reconfigure their spending habits due to artificially raised prices. It also overlooks the businesses, products, and jobs that could've thrived if the government hadn't sucked the life out of the productive economy via tariffs.

While the economic effects make a strong case against jacking up the tariffs, the main reason to say "no" to tariffs is that they're foul, rotten thievery, just like all taxes and inflation taxes.

[1] - Congressional Budget Office (CBO); 2 - Eric J. Hellstrom, William F. Semmens, "The Effects of Tariffs and Trade Agreements on the U.S. Economy"; [3] - Tax Foundation; [4] - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB)(Sources have been lightly integrated to enrich and clarify the text without overburdening it with excessive detail)

  1. The escalating trade tensions, as highlighted in the tariff debate between the US and China, are not just limited to the realm of business and finance, but also involve politics and general-news, as they have broader implications for the economy and consumer behavior.
  2. The deleterious impact of protectionist policies, such as tariffs, extends beyond free-market industries, reaching deeply into everyday life, with consumers feeling the squeeze in their wallets due to higher prices for imported goods, thus affecting personal finance and general-news discussions about economic well-being.

Read also:

    Related

    Latest