Trump says his 35% import tariff will compel US companies to move production offshored to China back to the United States.
That's bunkum.
Avoiding the tariff barely covers the additional labor cost of US production.
What's more, the tariff doesn't apply to China-made products distributed outside the US.
So, a few companies may move production home, either to gain favor with Trump, or because they have found offshore production, even without the tariff, not so advantageous as they had expected.
But for most companies that have moved production to China, why return to the US now? It will achieve little if any saving in cost of production for the US market while sharply reducing the margin on worldwide sales.
Production for worldwide distribution might be maintained in China while domestic demand is met from US factories, but that would make life unnecessarily complicated and effective management more expensive.
No, Trump's tariff is just another tax. A tax that the bureaucracy is no doubt delighted to see. More tax, more money for bureaucrats to dispose of -- much of it on hiring more bureaucrats.
And the benefit to Trump?
A well-funded, and therefore contented and docile bureaucracy at his back.
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Meantime:
Trump Administration Grabs Certain Papers Held by Ghilaine Maxwell
Phew, the Epstein blackmail material now safely under Trump's control?
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