EDITOR:
Bringing manufacturing jobs back to the USA certainly is a worthwhile goal. The Trump administration is trying to achieve that with tariffs and has started a trade war with friends and foes alike.
There are a few things to consider: Tariffs have been a tool ever since the inception of our republic, at that time they were called ‘imposts’ and had the purpose of providing much needed revenue for the young USA as well as protecting the nascent industry against competition from Great Britain. Already then there were conflicting ends: While the beginning industry could only be protected by reducing imports, it also meant cutting the revenue the federal government would receive.
Today we are also faced with the inherent conflicts: Manufacturing jobs were shifted to low-wage countries so that businesses could increase their profits by hiring people who would work for less. This also enabled them to offer their products for less. The American consumer naturally enthusiastically enjoyed the lower prices for these goods and continues to do so. It follows that if the lost jobs return to the USA, either manufacturing workers will have to work for less, or the goods will be higher priced. Reduced consumer demand is the consequence, which does not bode well for a consumer driven economy like ours.
In addition, not only will consumers be faced with higher prices, unless the importers want to swallow the costs, which is highly unlikely, but tariffs have consequences for exporters. They could also lower the price level in order to stay competitive and make less money. But since their countries then receive less money from the USA, these in return may reduce imports from the USA, which again jeopardizes jobs and businesses here, especially in the agricultural sector, which highly depends on exports.
The whole mess became a huge problem because the USA doesn’t have a sophisticated social safety net to protect workers who lost their jobs due to global trade.
--Klaus Karbaumer
Platte City
