President Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that his tariffs could result in fewer and costlier products in the United States, saying American kids might “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” but he insisted China will suffer more from his trade war.
Even if this were true, a policy that hurts everyone isn’t sucessful just because someone else suffers more than you.
Isn’t this the whole ideology of the US. Always kick downwards?
When your worldview is completely transactional, and you believe that literally everything is zero-sum, then you do view that as successful.
But everybody suffering isn’t zero-sum. It’s net negative.
No, see, you start with the assumption that everything is zero-sum, then you look at the other guy to see suffering and conclude that you must therefore be winning.
If your whole policy is to own the libs, it kind of is.
It’s called a Russian victory.
It is for Republicans
It wouldn’t even be a pyrrhic victory. It would just be mutual suffering.
If your suffering is negligibly small and your opponent’s – critical for him, then you can demand something.
Imagine a war where all sides are losing soldiers but one side is winning.
But in the case of China I’m not sure who will suffer more in the long run.
Consumers in both countries, as it always is with tariffs.
I doubt that Chinese customers depend much on imports from the USA. They might feel the overall slowering the economy until China finds a new destination for its goods, but that’s it.
Hmm, good point. US consumers it is, then.
Well, they need work in factories which produce goods for the US customers. If no one is going to buy those goods, these people will be out of a job.
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Its extremely arrogant to expect china to stop production, just because USA stops trading with them
Personally, i think it’s an issue of the skill variety.
can you elaborate on what you mean with this?
Yes, but the USA isn’t the only market. It was convenient because of its size, but nothing irreplaceable.
You realise that the companies that will no longer want to produce in China because of the tariffs will move to India or Vietnam or literally anywhere else? Kinda like Apple and Samsung are doing.
And? Some will move, others – won’t. Moving industry is a huge deal. It isn’t easy. And most companies understand that the problem is not China but Trump. Today Americans are required to pay additional taxes for Chinese stuff, tomorrow they will pay for Indian stuff.
Maybe you have some real numbers to analyze?