WHAT “DONALD THE SCROOGE” DOESN'T GET ABOUT TRADE!

…Donald the Scrooge

“Black Friday” promises to be anything but “in the black”.

Donald Trump has for a long time told us about the “War on Christmas”, you know, how he alone is making it okay to say “Merry Christmas” again, instead of “Happy Holidays”.

Well, as with most of what the president says, for this Christmas, Trump will be the anti-yuletide Ebeneezer Scrooge.

We are now starting into the quarter before the holiday shopping season starts, and the president has announced tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, in addition to the $50 billion in products he imposed duties on over the summer.

The new tariffs will jack up prices on many of the standard Christmas purchases, including televisions, computers, and even mittens and knit hats.  Even one of Trump’s former campaign chairman’s favorite apparel items is on the tariff list, as “Articles of apparel of reptile leather” have made the list.

Yes sir, if you believe in the Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, then in today’s truth, the Scrooge is Donald J. Trump.

The American Retail Association has already said that this year’s “Black Friday” promises to be anything but “in the black”.

Just as Trump’s long-time view of American industry, is seeing giant steel mills, tall smoke stacks, coal mines and railroad trains, his ideas about trade area also from back in the 17^th century.

All those American’s that are living from pay-check to pay-check, and that continue to fight against the issues of stagnant wages and inflation, where are they going to get the extra 10% to 25% price hikes that will be tacked on to the cost of those items they want to buy to put under the tree?

The consumer products giant, Apple, counts on holiday sales for about one third of its annual revenue.  They had already warned their investors that its watch, wireless headphones and Mac mini computer, among other products, might take a hit from the tariffs.

Of course, with only a few months warning, Donald the Scrooge initially suggested that Apple should start manufacturing its products in the United States. Besides the impracticality of building a $1 billion chip-fab plant in time for the holiday rush, this idiotic response misses the reasons firms have moved manufacturing abroad.  And it is all unrelated to any tariffs.  It’s because of much more complicated economic factors including labor costs, and the matter of offering their products through a number of global supply chains.

But God forbid using the word “global” around the “America First” US president.

But even Donald the Scrooge realized that he would be facing a serious backlash on the tariffs as he check his tariff list twice, and then decided to remove a few categories that would cover some affected Apple products.  Those were such as smartwatches. But the Apple executives should not expect to sleep snug in their beds just yet.

This Scrooge in the White House has said that his tariff list may just be too small, and just as Dr. Seuss’ “Grinch swiped from, Whoville: Pop guns! and Bicycles! Roller skates! Drums! Checkerboards! Tricycles! Popcorn! And plums!”

At least three of those items, “bicycles, tricycles, plums” are on the $200 billion tariff list; the rest of the items, with the exception of popcorn, would likely become more expensive if Trump decides to blanket every Chinese import with new taxes.

And yes, Virginia, tariffs are indeed a form of taxes.

China has immediately retaliated.  But because we buy more from China than it buys from us, it will soon run out of US-made products to strike back tit-for-tat on tariffs.

But they have other ways to get back at the US.  According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), they (China) might “restrict China’s sales of materials, equipment and other parts key to US manufacturers’ supply chains.”

One of those items is pharmaceuticals, and one example is penicillin.  The is no penicillin manufactured in the US.  Of course, Trump has said, “We’ll just buy it from other countries.”  Most likely, the other countries would also be buying it from China, then marking it up to sell to the US.  So, the American consumer would just take it in the shorts by paying the marked-up price.

According to data compiled by scholars at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, more than three-quarters of the China-specific tariffs that Trump has imposed so far are capital equipment that US firms purchase, including some products for which China is the main supplier

In other words, Trump has been responsible for gifting China’s punishment of the United States.  The expected result?  Both countries will end up worse off.

Donald J. Trump may think he's the "Great Negotiator", but he knows jack about trade.

As an Op-Ed writer for The Post has stated about that possibility: “Mr. President: ‘No Immigrants from Shithole Countries’ hardly seems like a credible messenger for the true meaning of Christmas!”

I agree.

And that Op-Ed writer also added: “Whatever comes of Trump’s trade war in the months ahead, rest assured we’ll all still get at least one Christmas present this year: loads and loads of coal. All American-made, of course.”

Hear, Hear!!

Copyright G. Ater 2018