Trump's Tariff Goal

I know exactly what Trump is doing with the Mexico tariffs. It's not about immigration. He's bullying businesses to bring jobs back to the United States. A big campaign promise was to bring jobs back. This is how he is trying to do it. Not with negotiations, but with bullying.

A large number of American companies have moved jobs to China over the years because labor is cheaper. Trump's voters want to bring those jobs back. So, he keeps tariffing Chinese imports to try to get his way. It worked, American businesses are leaving China ……………….. for Mexico.

Now he is planning to tariff Mexican imports. He knows they aren't going to stop immigration. It's about making American companies feel like the only country they are safe moving jobs back to is America. Bullying.

It's not going to work. We long ago became a global economy. We are far enough into this presidency for other countries to say "we'll wait it out and see what happens in the next American presidential election first." Companies are going to wait it out too. In the meantime, costs skyrocket for Americans.

We do need to find a way to bring jobs back to America. But, this is the wrong way to do it. Setting tariffs in every country American companies are manufacturing in will just keep the situation unstable and prices high. Companies need stability to run a business smoothly and cheaply. That's when American customer benefit, when companies are stable.

So, how do we get American businesses to bring jobs back to America? They left because the cost of labor is too high. Companies are anti-union. They don't want to have to provide a decent wage, time off, health care, and safe working conditions. They are sending their plants to countries without those restrictions.

So, does that mean we force these countries to enact and enforce more worker friendly laws? Yes and no. Yes, this has to be part of all trade deals to begin with. But, that still leaves other countries. We need to offer incentives for those companies that have reasonable worker-friendly practices.

So, what should those incentives be? These companies run on greed. So, money. Basically, raise taxes for the stock activity for the companies without those practices in the US. Raise taxes for the stock activity for those companies without a strong US presence. But, lower them for those companies that have a strong presence in the US and have worker-friendly policies.

I mean all stock activity. But, that will effect regular customers. The middle class employee with an IRA. That is where we offer tax write offs for stock income under a reasonable amount. The rich people with most of their incomes from stocks are making a lot more in stock income then middle class retirement accounts. Non-rich Americans can recoup losses in stock income through that write-off. The write-off needs to be equal to or greater then what was taxed for stock transactions.