Sunday, September 23, 2018

Trump's Terrible Trade and Tariff Troubles: Tariffs Explained for the Layman

Trump's overall Trade and Tariff policy description: 
Bigly and Ugly

The man with his finger on the trade and tariff 
weapon of choice 

This post ties directly into this earlier post I made here – read it first or second the subject is generally the same: Trump’s Trade and Tariffs mess.

I call it Tariffs 101

Tariffs are a tax imposed by a government on goods and services imported.

They increase the price of the goods imported and thus make them less desirable to buy, and less competitive vs. domestic goods and services.

Because of this, domestic producers are not forced to reduce their prices from increased competition, and domestic consumers are left paying higher prices as a result. 

That in turn decreases pressure on domestic producers to lower their prices. 

So, in two ways consumers lose because prices are higher and they lose as domestic producers gain by the imposed tariff. 

Tariffs are used to restrict trade, as they increase the price of imported goods and services, making them more expensive to consumers. 

They are one of several tools available to shape trade policy. 

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the Federal agency, part DHS that is charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting customs (import duties or tariffs approved by Congress), and then to enforce trade regulations.

My 2 cents and the so-called bottom line: Tariffs are used to restrict imports by increasing the price of goods and services purchased from overseas and making them less attractive to consumers by helping domestic producers who control the prices. 

They hurt domestic consumers due to a lack of competition and that pushes up prices thus benefiting domestic produces (but that assumes their products are better than the imported less expensive ones and/or more consumer popular). 

And, Trump benefits himself – how – first of all his personal bragging rights for this family and their export businesses. 

Overall the benefits of tariffs are uneven because tariffs are a tax. But, the government sees an increase in revenues as imports enter the domestic market – thus they use that to spend and stay popular but seldom do they spend on needed problem solving (like healthcare for all). 

Domestic industries benefit from a reduction in competition, since import prices are artificially inflated – and they fork over more money to incumbents in office to get favorable trade policy.

I call it: We’ll load your campaign coffers for more trade favors. You get more bragging rights to stay in power.” 

Thanks for stopping – hope this helps explain things.

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