Guest post: Other markets, other customers
Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Prank.
Will nobody tell Trump how tariffs work? He’s under the impression (or giving the impression) that the countries he’s targeting with these tariffs are going to pay him for the privilege of selling in the US. Canada isn’t going to pay a dime; it’s US customers of Canadian goods who are going to be stuck with the bill, or needing to scramble to find alternate sources for the products we can sell more profitably elsewhere. Trump seems to think that, like some hoity- toity credit card with exorbitant annual fees, we’ll pay through the nose in order to be permitted to bow and scrape our way back into his good graces.
“It’s going to be very costly for people to take advantage of this country. They can’t come in and steal our money and steal our jobs and take our factories and take our businesses and expect not to be punished,”….
Wait. We’re talking about trade, right? Where does the “steal our money” happen? Are these countries shoplifting on a massive scale, stuffing their diplomatic bags with items they’ve pinched from Walmart? Traditionally, tariffs were used to protect domestic production from foreign competition. But what if there are few (or no) domestic producers left to protect? What’s the point? As for “stealing our jobs” and “taking” factories and businesses, wasn’t it American companies moving to those countries? Are they not permitted to do that? Isn’t it the goal of corporations to seek out the cheapest source of labour, the least regulated and profitable locations for their facilities? This corporate strategy has been used to roll back wages and working conditions in a race to the bottom. This is how the game is played, and if it were going in Trump’s favour, he would have no problem at all with it; he’d say he was “winning.”
Corporations have no loyalty to anything but profit; this is a stance which Trump should appreciate, as he follows it himself (albeit, given his record, with limited success). Taxing the corporations that claim to be “American” while doing all of their manufacturing overseas would make more sense. Fighting for a level playing field internationally in terms of worker pay, environmental protection, and carbon pricing for shipping would, in the long run, make a lot more sense and make the world a better place for everyone. But that’s not what Trump wants. He wants obedience and gratitude, and he doesn’t care how many Americans have to suffer until he gets it. Good luck with that. The US isn’t in a position to dictate in this way any more. Trump can’t make anyone trade with him if they don’t want to. Beating with the tariff stick won’t really help. It might be awkward or difficult, but the world can bypass or ignore the US much more easily than in the past. There are other markets, and other customers.
As Trump himself said, tariffs were a major source of US government funding back in the Gilded Age, the last time America had such deep income inequality. But even then, tariffs reduced labor productivity in manufacturing sector, which is contrary to Trump’s stated goal. It all makes more sense when you view Trump as Putin’s punishment for a decade of economic sanctions on Russia.
In a forceful speech, Trudeau has basically accused Trump of seeking to destroy Canada’s economy with the aim of making it the 51st state.
Trump has no comprehension of service, sacrifice, or courage. For him, “service” is self service; “sacrifice” is receiving the same size portion of cake as everyone else at a White House state dinner when everyone knows he’s supposed to get more. The courage of others is incomprehenible to him. He expects everyone to be a coward like he is. Why would anyone stand and fight when they can’t win? He doesn’t get why Ukrainians didn’t surrender immediately in the face of Russia’s superior firepower. Ukraine has stood against Putin for three years, which is three years longer than Putin expected. Defending your family and your home gives you a strength that simple aggression does not, a strength beyond numbers, beyond weapons. Similarly, Trump doesn’t get why Canada would resist the economic might of the United States. And we will. We are defending our families and our homes, and that gives us a strength to endure hardship and suffering that Trump will never understand, and never break.
Citizenship and nationhood are things that are not transactional. It is the voluntary coming together of people in community, to promote and protect a way of life and shared values for the good and betterment of all. When those values and communities are threatened, people will come together to protect them. Most Americans get this, but Trump, and those around him don’t understand that “foreigners” can feel the same protectiveness for their own rights and countries as Americans do, and that they have every right to do so. This failure of empathy and imagination has led him to make a huge mistake which is endangering his own country. But he doesn’t understand this either.
If everyone wanted to be just like America, they would be that way already. And while there is much to admire in among American values and ideals, in democracies, however imperfect, we get to pick and choose the values we accept and reject, sometimes with vigorous debate. Sometimes we even change our minds. We get to do that Mr. Trump. But we will not have American values thrust upon us through the imposition of the “gift” of American citizenship. We say “No thank you.” This “offer” (which we’re not supposed to refuse) is being made out of spite and covetousness, rather than through any thought of genuine, benevolent generousity (though we would also refuse a “generous” offer just as strongly: don’t call us, we’ll call you). Trump wants our country, and for him that is sufficient, because he believes he deserves to have everything and anything he wants. Even more so because he has the power to take our country. That, in his mind, gives him the right to do so. Among other things, he’s also under the delusion that he’s universally loved. That “universe” much smaller than he thinks. Tell him not to expect Canadians to give him a friendly welcome, overwhelming power or not. We won’t be a piece of cake.
Well I’m about at a point where I’d work for any European aerospace defense contractor that would take me because I feel really unsafe, but as I’m a welder and not, like, an engineer I doubt I’m much use.
Of course I’ve really, really enjoyed my life up until Elon got in the treasury. These supposed economic concerns, WTF? I certainly never noticed them in my decidedly blue collar job. I love my country more than ever but it’s not going to be a good place if we can’t purge these Un-Americans and good fucking luck there.
Blood Knight: there’s a skills gap for highly-skilled manual labour in many western European countries. It doesn’t hurt to update your resume and have a look around.
Trump is an absolute disgrace to America.
The way forward for Canada will be closer economic integration with Europe.
Which is why invading Afghanistan is always such a disaster for major superpowers who assume it will be a walk in the park.
I’m sure Roy Cohn is very proud of his protege. If he’s looking up from hell (if there was such a place), he’d be smiling broadly.