Friday, March 29, 2024

No more cherries jubilee in Beijing

Posted

Local Orchardists are concerned about the impact of China’s new tariffs on Apples and Cherries. Washington state is probably going to be hit the hardest. The question is just how big of a problem is this?
First, only 2 percent of U.S. apple exports go to China. Most of our exports go to Canada and Mexico. The Washington Tree Fruit Association reports that last year Washington exported $45 million worth of U.S. apples to China. China also imported $121.7 million in cherries, but it isn’t immediately clear how much of the cherry sales came from Washington growers.
On the other hand, China is the largest grower of apples in the world producing one-half of the world’s supply. So their decision to punish America by putting a tariff on our imported fruit is mostly symbolic. The fact is, China has closed their market to importation of American apples in the past claiming disease could threaten their apple industry.
All of this is spurred by President Trump’s threat to place tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The real issue here is how do we make sure that free trade is truly free? What do we do when other countries are limiting our ability to sell goods in their country while getting unfettered access to ours?
For the past couple of decades our government has allowed China and other countries to abuse our American industries. The “globalists” have claimed that free trade is good for American consumers because it lowers the price of goods. The problem of course is it has also had a big impact on the American middle class who have seen their jobs being exported to countries with lower wages.
So how exactly has our free trade policies helped the middle class?
Homes and higher education are no longer affordable. Our national debt is growing faster than our economy. Health care costs are out of control and insurance is unaffordable. Minimum wage continues to escalate but the poor and least skilled can’t find a job, so homelessness is growing exponentially. And wages to the American middle class have been stagnant for decades.
The problem is that we cannot unleash the power of our economy by exporting our jobs. That is what we have been doing and the results are now in. We are no longer the strongest economy in the world.
Our politicians have put us on a course where we are helping the rest of the world improve their standard of living by reducing ours. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a Republican or a Democrat. They have both contributed to support these failed policies.
That is not the country I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren.
The mainstream media keep talking about the stock market being unstable because of fear of an impending trade war. The problem is the stock market is not the measure of the health of our economy. The stock market accounts for about 5 percent of private industry.
Small business is still the engine that drives new jobs and innovation. And small business has been hit hard with over regulation and restricted access to capital. It is a fact that loans to small business during the Obama administration declined by nearly 35 percent. The result was the economy languished.
It will take a while, but much of President Trump’s efforts will spur growth in the private sector. It won’t show up on the stock market because that is dominated by multinational corporations. For example, Ford is now building many of their cars in China with cheaper labor and cheaper steel.
American made cars could well become more expensive when they are built here with American labor and American made steel but those increased costs will result in higher wages for American workers. I, for one, am willing to pay more for a car if the increased costs go to pay American workers.
It is far past time to fire up the power of the American free enterprise economy. If that means tariffs on imported goods, I support it. We need to put America first.

 
 

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