I read Steve Showalter's opinion piece in Wednesday's Sun and I posted a
comment in response. If you recall he is qualified as a government professor at
Lee College. Seeing that I have a 9th grade
education, I quickly ciphered he does not work as a government agent, but
actually instructs on how our government works, right? I mean you can't jump to
conclusions anymore; that's racist, or misogynist, or something. Oh I'm being
intentionally silly, but for a reason and my apologies to Professor Showalter
for including him in that nonsense.
He
made some astute and accurate assertions and I appreciate that. Tariff's are a
sticky wicket, as the Brits say and as old as the ancient trade routes.
International rules of trade are almost sacred in some respects and way beyond
my understanding for the most part. He cited the negative impact of raising the tariff on aluminum and
steel with Canada and Europe and how prices will rise. I didn't see any
comparison on the negative impact Europe and Canada
places on the USA
when it comes to our dairy and other products. Tariff on milk products coming
from the US to Canada is over
250%. To be sure, we have a major trade deficit no matter how it is interpreted
by the reader.
And speaking of
steel, didn't US Steel have a giant facility here until they could no longer
compete with foreign steel? You suppose it had something to do with egregious
tariff policies? The metal for the Fred Hartman bridge didn't come out of Beach
city folks, but if I remember correctly, it was shipped all the way here from Apartheid
South Africa after a deal with a Mexican company fell through.
I suggested in my
letter to the Prof that all countries drop all tariffs and start over. This of
course isn't going to happen and the reason is everything is interconnected and
changing one tariff level would cripple other deals and some of them are very
old. Remember the delicate balance of trade between India,
China, and Japan a couple
of hundred years ago? It was all about silver, opium, and tea.
"The structure
of the Western trade with China
was based on silver and colonial products from India
and the Malay archipelago, like silver,
cotton, pepper, lead. These commodities were exchanged for Chinese tea, silk
and porcelain by the mediation of the so-called Hong trades. As long as the
trade structure was kept in balance the Westerners were able to make large
profits and commercial relations remained the same. When the trade structure
fell out of balance through, for instance, a shortage of silver or the
prohibition of opium smuggling, the Western powers resorted to force."
Tariffs can and
have led to embargoes and hostilities. It's the old sticky wicket again and
sure, adjusting them to favor the USA is going to ruffle international
feathers and dip into our wallets. I get it. I am also willing to sweat it out
as prices rise and eventually fall back to a safe place. Its going to happen
and its going to be uncomfortable for a spell, but if it means a balance in our
trade deficit, then I think most Americans would rather eat from the tree every
year, than watch the fruit disappear because we gave it all away.
The fat cats that
call the global shots and finance wars do not care anything about country
borders. They don't give a flip that you have a home in Baytown or that you hold certain ideals
sacred. They give you the same amount of consideration as the African bushman
or the indigenous people of the Amazon. Their goal is global everything, so a
little stirring of the pot is fine with them. Rest assured, world movement of
goods will continue. The global economy will survive just like it did when
wars, disease, and natural disasters disrupted it. Our world planners are
master shape-shifters with a very long range agenda.
I can't help but
believe that if the economy would be like it is right now under Obama, the very
people who are vehemently screaming foul would be waving his banner and
back-slapping each other with rabid abandonment. This is why in my opening
paragraph, I joked about Mr. Showalter's government status and his final
paragraph that "The real problem facing the American worker is lack of
education and training." He adds that tariff's won't fix this very real
problem. He is 100% correct on this in my opinion.
Over the last 20
years we have outsourced everything including our knowledge of how to perform
certain tasks. Legitimate Mexican immigrants have so many skills Americans lack
and unfortunately, we are incarcerating the very people who know how to do
things we've forgotten, but that is another subject, isn't it? The answer is
trade schools and hands on training for Americans.
This current
administration has vowed to make America great again, but it is not
going to be handed to us on a silver platter. It sure isn't going to help when
the opposition spends a great deal of its time and energy on derailing it. How
about we join forces and actually work together to make America great
again? There's room for both of us at the table.
.
