PIGS AND TARIFFS

 

PIGS AND TARIFFS

 

There is a simple reason behind Trump’s ranting when it comes to tariffs and his reasoning for imposing them.  America is in debt up to its eyeballs; poor fiscal management at all government levels, a huge population with wishes and demands it can no longer meet, an overextended, expensive military and a bureaucracy that is a nightmare in size and scope with out-of-control budgets.  Why is Trump eyeballing tariffs?  In part it is all about distraction and laying the blame elsewhere, but most of all it is about cold, hard cash.  Tariffs put money directly into the hands of government.  Government rakes in the dough and the consumer reaps the grief; higher prices and inflation.  Every time politicians get involved in economic dogfights I shudder.  Trump’s rhetoric is all about his so-called putting America first, trying to deliver on rants delivered during the election.  Trump has an awful habit of speaking first, followed by an absolute refusal to take both feet out of his mouth.  The lies and rants are piling up as quickly as the fast food he likes to feast on.

There is nothing wrong with America’s domestic economy.  America’s meddling all across the globe has come at a horrendous cost.  This costly mess of political and financial interference in the affairs of foreign nations has been going on for decades.  All part of the empire syndrome, of trying to live up to being the number one superpower.

The North-American economy is doing just fine. 

Manufacturers, producers and processors price their products based on market conditions and economic realities.  It is the competitive environment that delivers fair pricing.  If there is an imbalance one needs to look at cause.  Is it a case of product dumping causing an unfair trade balance?  Is it the result of a monopoly that gives one company an unfair advantage over another?  Or is it the result of unfair subsidies or trade protectionism resulting in an unfair advantage?  There is a trade dispute settling mechanism called the World Trade Organization, but its success depends on nations abiding by its rulings.  But what is one more organization to withdraw from?  Trump’s way of avoiding a problem.

The role of government is to establish a level of oversight that safeguards the economy from unfair practices and to ensure that there is a level playing field.  And in Trump’s case, when he interferes in trade it is usually for all the wrong reasons; and acts of retaliation, rather than negotiation and diplomacy, are the worst.  Trade wars only serve to undermine a nation’s economy and they hurt everyone affected by their punitive nature.

Political egos flounder and bruise easily when engaging in economic catfights and mudslinging, because basically they’re not business people—real estate doesn’t qualify one as an expert in all things economy!  Trade flourishes when all sides abide by common practices that allow a business to thrive in a competitive environment.  An environment that provides mechanisms and opportunities to adjust business models based on demands and changing circumstances.  Canada and the U.S. have shared an integrated economy for many decades that has served both sides well.  This trade relationship is not cozy, lopsided or one-sided.  From an economic perspective it makes sense to trade with your neighbor, ally and friend.

History is proof that tariffs don’t work.  They never have.

Business has capital, the US government has debt!

Business went global decades ago for a good reason: access to a diversified labor pool, emerging markets, an increased consumer base, new capital and investments and incentives.  It’s called diversification.  Blaming agencies such as the FAA, EPA and CDC, just to name a few, is utterly ridiculous.  Companies are well aware that responsible corporate leadership in regards to health & safety and environmental stewardship is good for everybody.  The integrated North American economy and the negotiated trade pacts have been a win-win for all parties.  Forcing companies to relocate within US borders is not only a logistical nightmare, from a financial perspective it is an absolute nightmare.  You’re literally severing customer and market ties.

Pigs at the trough

The only companies firmly entrenched on American soil are those who benefit from the largesse of extremely huge, lucrative, government contracts and most of them are military in nature.  Producing weapons of mass destruction, hugely expensive, sitting idle in army compounds most of the time and gathering dust.  Most of them are sold off at bargain basement market prices when they become old and obsolete or simply given away to nations such as Israel or Ukraine to fight enemies real or imagined. 

Trump & Co are playing with fire and are experimenting with capitalist cronyism.  Billionaire pigs such as Elon Musk, benefitting from hundreds of millions of dollars in fat, government contracts (this from the man who is in charge of cutting government costs!) feeding themselves to bursting at the government trough.  These companies wouldn’t survive without government contracts.

Distraction.  Disruption.  Confusion.  It’s a shell game.

This is all about Trump desperate for cash to stave off an implosion at home.  Business is doing just fine, but not the government, in size, in expenses and efficiencies.  Tariffs are a desperation move, not to save the American people and American jobs, but to keep a nearly bankrupt government in power.  All Trump is doing is throwing a monkey wrench into something that isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixing.  Once more his ignorance comes shining through in spades.  A huge ego that lacks the basic understanding of responsible governance and leadership.

He is giving Canada and the rest of the world little choice.  We need to fight back and fight back hard because strength is the only thing Trump understands.  To get a bully’s attention you need to punch him right in the nose.  These tariff threats ought to serve as a wakeup call.  We need to realize as nations that 95% of the world population is non-American.  There is a huge world out there for us to trade with.  We have no choice but to stand shoulder to shoulder and retaliate tit for tat.  This is about the economy, about jobs and income security.

A bully like Trump needs to be given a clear message from friends and business partners alike, “You’re messing with the wrong people and we won’t let you screw up our livelihoods.”

Elbows up!

Divided we fail, united we succeed.  And if there is a price to be paid, let’s share the pain and support each other.  Give in to a bully and you surrender everything you are and stand for.  And that has nothing to do with misplaced pride or hubris.  This is one of those occasions where we need to stand up for what is right, and if that means a fight, bring it on.

The world needs to look past Trump and his acolytes and the dictator playbook they’re singing from.  Trump is cashing in on cheap sentiments that are recklessly being resurrected; America’s past successes and glory and that primitive Wild West sentiment of kicking ass.  As if kicking ass solves everything.  We’re living in a world where simplistic bluster and threats, lies and rants, are all traits that belong to a past that didn’t seem to care about the casualties and the damage inflicted.  What the world needs more than ever is rational people who reach for rational decisions. 

      "Oink, oink, who is he going to boink?"

America is awfully close to surrendering its democracy and freedom by allowing capitalist cronyism to take over.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Americans have voted in a nightmare and it has only just begun.

Thank goodness that he is old, corrupt and clueless and an expert at digging holes!