New National Sales Tax

Trade is about cooperation, not competition.  The same is true for international trade.  If one country is better at producing a product or service, (“better” may mean price or quality or they just have it and we don’t) and we want it, we buy it from them because we feel we are better off by doing so.  If we did not have access to their products, then we have to look for another second choice that does not provide all the benefits we saw in our first choice.

The tariffs recently put in place by the US government, have caused other countries (China, the US, Mexico, etc) to relatiate with tariffs of their own.  Who suffers?  Consumers.  That mean everybody.  Make no mistake, a tariff on imports to the US is paid for by US consumers. When we can’t buy products as cheaply we have to resort to a more expensive alternative. Profits of most US companies go down, and/or prices for everyone goes up, and very few win.  When prices of products go up, it helps cause inflation, which erodes the value of the dollar and destroys everyones personal wealth.

Who gets the money?  The US government. 

What do they do with the money?  One thing they do is pay off special interests who lobby the loudest.  For example when China put a retaliatory tariff on agricultural products from the US, the price of these products fell.  To make up for it, the US government is paying billions to big farmers.  It’s lunancy.

A tariff is a national sales tax, plain and simple.  Keeping markets free is the way to a prosperous and safe world.  When products cross borders, armies don’t.