https://www.bicycleretailer.com/ind...ses-25-tariff-china-made-e-bikes#.WyoWcvJlAad
Another ridiculous tax on US consumers.
Another ridiculous tax on US consumers.
This is foolish policy. All it does it does is create manufacturing whack-a-mole to evade tariffs. Chinese companies will simply move to lower cost countries (lower-wage Vietnam already has a nacent ebike industry for this exact reason). The blame is squarely on the backs of US consumers because they insist on buying the cheapest product (hence the rise of Walmart). Few will manufacture/assemble low-skill product in the US when the min wage is 10-20x more than in 3rd world countries, simply because nobody values Made In America (other than as a convenient slogan to excite the base in advance of elections - then it's all forgotten and the real agenda is taken care of - tax cuts for the 0.01% and corporations).This could take a while to play out. A lot of these proposals by the Trump administration are purely tactics in order to restore some semblance of balance in the trade equation. Each of the products on the list are chosen strategically, but it could be awhile before anything is actually implemented. Even with a July 6th 'deadline'. Ultimately this could lead to significantly more benefits for US consumers, as it will prompt US OEM's and other marketers not to place such heavy emphasis on sourcing too much product from any one country. I think that is the aim and the play here by Trump longer term, and while yes there is going to be some short term consternation, and a lot of hand waving from both sides, it will be healthier in the longer term to have a lot of these products sourced from a multitude of geographies. Low cost labor is not necessarily the best decision point to make quality products. I would not however anticipate any quick near term decisions for OEM's to start actually MAKING e-bikes here in the US, because the manufacturing base for 90% of the components on any bicycle is still largely Asia. Assembling here won't put much of a dent in that equation either.
A whole lot of would be initial consumers are still on the fence on their e-bike purchases, so this may actually be in the favor of the industry short term, to encourage those consumers to buy now before a risk of price increases.
Yes but, as you know, All costs are passed on to the customer, including 35% for every middleman. No matter what you sell your resources come from only a few sources. Break it down to the origin of every material used...I'll say there is also much, much more to the manufacturing equation than who has the cheapest labor, lowest taxes, and lightest regulation.
I agree so wholeheartedly. Free trade has helped every person in this world. Those who lost jobs exported have the benefit of the goods they need at vastly lower prices.This is a rant.
I don't understand those who think we've gotten a 'bad deal' with our trade policy. A quick look at our history is that America's championing of free and open trade since WWII helped reindustrialize those countries devastated by WWII. In the longer term, that policy helped turn former enemies like Japan and Germany into loyal allies. In the even longer term, that policy ultimately brought down the Soviet Bloc. Since then, that very policy and philosophy has brought hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and let them live halfway decent lives.
Yes, more than a few Americans lost their jobs in the pursuit of that policy and if our government was as decent and compassionate as it ought to be we would help those people who were screwed over. But you have to admit that American policy over the last 70 years has worked pretty well to prevent major wars, saved hundreds of millions from desperate poverty, and at the same time has greatly reduced price inflation here at home.
If you want to do a little digging, the last time an international trading system broke down it eventually led to the Great Depression and WWII. The time before that led into WWI. That doesn't necessarily mean that history will repeat itself but given the catastrophic consequences last time we might want to be a bit careful trashing the international trading system. And the fact that the global trading system today is much more complex and much, much larger should make all of us very nervous.
Full disclosure: I've worked for and started several companies that managed to manufacture hi-tech products in the States that were vigorously exported overseas. I'll say there is also much, much more to the manufacturing equation than who has the cheapest labor, lowest taxes, and lightest regulation.
Yes but, as you know, All costs are passed on to the customer, including 35% for every middleman. ...
...Anyone of an age remembers....
We sold out our jobs to have "better crappy goods" is the worse thing we have been lead into..Were it not for cheap Chinese goods we would not be living so well today. Now that is all to be diminished. More jobs will be lost than gained by trade protectionism. Ain't we got (not) fun?
We cannot bring back what was deliberately taken apart by the leading capitalists of our society. We cannot in a free market economy preserve by good unions or trade protectionism the basic fact that the dollar decides our selfish futures.We sold out our jobs to have "better crappy goods" is the worse thing we have been lead into..
Counterpoint.Not for me. I’m a big fan of modern dentistry, the end of small pox, and potable water. You can keep nature. Visit England if you want to see natural dentistry.
Er... minor correction: "They" created an economy dependent on China. "He" drops a tariffThey created an economy dependent on China industry and then drop a tariff?...