BALANCING TRADE 

 

 

TPATH REMARKS

Dwight Kehoe

August 23, 2019

 

The cause of why there is and has been a spectacular trade imbalance between America and almost every country we deal with, may be involved and multifaceted, but it is basically driven by one goal. Greed.

 

As President Trump has said many times, this problem did not develop over night, over a few years or even over several Administrations. It has been going on since the end of WWII. However it has been on the increase during Clinton, Bush and Obammy. If not fixed America’s end game will not be a pretty picture.

 

As this article affixes blame on the greedy, please keep in mind its not referring to entrepreneurs, manufacturers or those striving to create wealth through innovation and hard work. It is directed at those people who would and do throw America’s future to the wolves in search of personal gain and unearned profit.  

 

HOW IT’S DONE

First, a group of scoundrels who occupy seats in both Houses of Congress, whom are supported and funded not by the people who elected them, but the second group of slime balls commonly called lobbyists, come together in a brew of corruption and manipulation.

 

Most of us know how this works but for those who may not, here is a simplified set of steps by which the voter is subverted and cash becomes the constituency. The Widget Company has just built a hundred million dollar factory in China and needs to have tariffs and regulations removed so their product can be exported to the US. They hire Mr. Slick who contacts Senator Shameless and Congressman Worthless and offer them hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and other sleazy things such as promising to buy thousands of the future unreadable books the politicians will write.

 

The result is a few new millionaire politicians, the lobbyists being handsomely rewarded by the Widget Company and the Widget Company set to rake in billions of dollars over the next few years. Oh, did I forget to mention the other result? A new law which will allow the Widget Company to make those billions while increasing our trade deficit and putting thousands of Americans out of work. Nice deal if you can get it. The problem is, the do get it and have been “getting it” for decades.

 

That kind of thing and many others are being stopped by Trump. Just another reason of many, why the elites of this world fear him and why real Americans love him.

 

 

 

 

 

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WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

Let’s look at the trade imbalance with just one country, China, which stands at $500 Billion each year. Those who support the idea that there is no problem because, yes they get our cash but we buy products. It’s an even deal and both parties get an equal asset. This concept is not just wrong but is fundamental to the greed referenced earlier. It is for the most part being purveyed by the same organizations and lobbyists who have been making money and our laws.

 

For years China has been flooding our country with steel. Cheap and low grade but at such low prices it benefited American manufacturers to buy it. The result was hundreds of steel mills and mining companies closed down and hundreds of thousands of steel workers unemployed.

 

If that is not bad enough imagine what would happen to our steel imports if we were ever to need vast amounts if we were forced into a major conflict. What if that conflict was with country that supplies us with steel? Talk about a bad end game.

 

Finally look at the deficit which resides now on a massive scale almost too large for many to comprehend.  Let’s shrink it down to a more understandable level.  Suppose your son owned a business that supplied a product other family members needed. Would you or your family members buy the product from another company even if the other company sold it a little cheaper?

 

After all you would be getting a valued asset for your money. But that money will have slipped away and its value has now increased the worth of your son’s competitor and is lost forever to him and his family.

 

Back to the larger scale. Every single dollar which is spent on products from foreign countries is one asset dollar less this country would have to use and invest here.  Over decades that one dollar has amassed into trillions of dollars, which if remained here would be used for infrastructure, investment, research and so many other things.

 

So if a company in a foreign land can compete with American companies and trade is done fairly and equally without them taxing our products more than we tax theirs, if they can compete without their home country manipulating currency, than so be it. That would be the truest sense of free trade and no capitalist should have a problem with that.  But that is not how it is and we can no longer stand still for it.  And Trump is not.

 

The next time you go out to purchase a product ponder this. Aside from the fact that an American product will be better made, and be of higher quality, would you be willing to pay a little extra if the money you spend will keep Americans employed, factories open and capital assets in our country?

 

That should not be a difficult question for most of us.