The thread about Ford not backing off on sending car production to foreign countries made my mind wander. Should the US government punish companies with Tariffs and such if they send production to other nations? Or, should it be consumers who punish those companies by refusing to buy that companies' products or at least those foreign made? It is really easy to gripe about Ford and Carrier moving production to Mexico while reading the article on your IPhone which you can afford due to it being made in China, not the US, watching television on your big screen Samsung you could afford because it was made in Korea, not the US, and wearing clothes made from various 3rd world countries, not the US.

 

How many Americans are willing to pay 25% or more for their stuff for such tariffs? Or are our luxuries just too nice and too comfortable to give up?

IMO it would be a colossal mistake in a world where global economy rules.

 

I know the company I work for could easily close up shop here in America and move everything overseas with a phone call.

 

And yes, I would pay more money for the stuff I really really wanted.

No. When companies decide to relocate operations offshore, it is a failure by our federal government. Imposing tariffs to punish companies for making sound business decisions is just compounding government's mistakes. Creating a lean federal government with low personal and corporate federal tax rates and the minimum practicable regulatory burden is the way to bring jobs back to this country and keep as many of the jobs that we have as possible. That is not possible as long as poorly educated Americans' votes are for sale to the highest bidder.

 

In my personal opinion, liberals have successfully corrupted our schools at every level over such a long period of time, our economy and federal government are already doomed to a future of continued decline. So few Americans understand basic economics that candidates in most states are wasting their time running campaigns espousing sound fiscal policies. People want "free" stuff and do not understand why the government can't just print more money - ink and paper are so cheap.

We can't and shouldn't force companies to do stuff. We should restructure corporate tax law to encourage companies to bring profits and jobs here. A short tax holiday could move billions of dollars back into our economy. Jobs are different now and will never be back to what they were 30 years ago. The jobs are different now. All economies are different now.

U.S. Companies Are Stashing $2.1 Trillion Overseas to Avoid Taxes - Bloomberg

The thread about Ford not backing off on sending car production to foreign countries made my mind wander. Should the US government punish companies with Tariffs and such if they send production to other nations? Or, should it be consumers who punish those companies by refusing to buy that companies' products or at least those foreign made? It is really easy to gripe about Ford and Carrier moving production to Mexico while reading the article on your IPhone which you can afford due to it being made in China, not the US, watching television on your big screen Samsung you could afford because it was made in Korea, not the US, and wearing clothes made from various 3rd world countries, not the US.

 

How many Americans are willing to pay 25% or more for their stuff for such tariffs? Or are our luxuries just too nice and too comfortable to give up?

 

Punish? No. Create a system that makes it equally profitable to stay in the country. Yes. The whole idea that the global economy is more important that the American economy is why Trump was voted into the White House.

 

I also don't believe the Iphone price would double if made in America. This article states according to MIT, the price would only rise $30 - $100. How much extra would a US-made iPhone cost? MIT has done the sums … | 9to5Mac Apple make $424 profit off of each Iphone.