President Obama, at the behest of the United Steelworkers union, will be adding a 35 percent tariff on tires imported from China.
The basic idea behind trade is that certain countries are better at certain things; international trade allows each country to specialize in what it’s best at. Alternately — and this is what we’re choosing here — you can prop up industries where your nation is non-competitive instead of trying to spread into industries where you have a competitive advantage.
Here’s a great quote from the article:
Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who had pressed for the tariffs, also praised the decision.
He said in a statement, “If American workers and manufacturers are going to compete in the global market, they need to have a government that uses trade enforcement tools.”
Allow me to translate: “Because American companies and workers are inherently inferior to foreign companies and foreign workers, they require a crutch from their government.”
Thanks guys! Now not only will my tires cost more, but China will likely impose retaliatory tariffs that target an industry where we do have a competitive advantage. Those guys, of course, don’t deserve protection because they didn’t pay their congressman enough money.
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