Trade, free or fair, it depends on whether you are a supporter of President Donald Trump.
President Trump has managed to do the impossible — to get the left and right to agree. The right who are for unfettered trade, and the left who are normally for controls on trade but hate him so much they have become free traders. The left and right are against President Trump’s plan to tax many imports; can we all sing Kumbaya in unison?
Go to most countries in the world and you will be surprised by the cost of American products. Many American products have high tariffs, taxes and duties that make them two to 20 times the cost we find in the United States. If I wanted to purchase my new low-end $11,000 Harley Davidson in India or China (more than 50% of the world’s population), it would cost me $88,000. Sure, some would be transportation costs, a few hundred dollars, but the rest is taxes and tariffs.
American rice was a black-market item in Asia; rice in Asia, go figure, but the quality is much better and sought after. The tariffs and duties drive the cost out of sight. American beef, chicken, clothing, vehicles, farm equipment, medicines, fruit, movies, grain and music are all taxed to a high degree. Indeed, most American products are highly over-taxed in most countries.
Free trade sure, fair trade absolutely, however it needs to be in a fair and free market.
The right and left are against the center on this issue, the right wanting unfettered capitalism, and the left (that normally support taxes, all taxes) are against anything the President wants to do, even if it is raising taxes and fees on imports. The saying that politics makes strange bed fellows certainly applies in the trade issue.
American products, given an equal playing field, will do very well in an open market; free trade is good, fair trade is much better. The problem is that we are helping the world at the expense of the American worker. And please explain to me why American workers do not want to work in heavy manufacturing jobs with the good pay and benefits
they provide? Please explain why we need cheap foreign labor so the affluent can get a maid or gardener for a slave wage? Please explain why given a fair wage Americans will not work in service jobs?
The left wants to raise the minimum wage; perhaps if we did not have more than 20 million illegals, the marketplace would raise wages and offer better benefits to attract good people. The law of supply and demand is absolute; cut the supply of labor by 11.5 to 20 million, and demand will cause wages to increase, basic economics.
The demand for American products world wide is good, but taxes, duties and tariffs are pricing them out of the reach of most foreigners. Let’s be fair and have free trade with those nations who allow free trade for American products in their nations. With more than 10 million illegals in the work force and American products being taxed out of foreign markets, it is just not fair.
In short, let’s give the American worker a chance to earn a decent living.
I, too wonder why we cannot get Americans to take low-wage jobs. You only mention maids and gardeners (which, by the way, are honorable professions, and of which there are many, many in Chandler, whites and Mexicans alike). More crucial, to me, is that we cannot get farm hands to harvest crops which are left to rot in fields because we have put the fear of God in the illegals who quite literally put the food on our tables. I don’t understand why we cannot find a kinder, saner middle ground to accommodate those who would willingly work these hard jobs that, in the end, benefit them and us. (In our neck of the woods, the legals who provide the housecleaning and gardening services you seem to disdain are of great help to the aging population here whose health disallows them from doing that work for themselves. Not to mention the home health care workers who assist the elderly. It is a true symbiotic relationship.)
Our schools teach our kids not to do labor jobs. All have iPads and classes with keyboards. Harvest crops, that’s out side away from TV or video games. They think manual labor is the president of Mexico. Why were the tariffs made with executive power, no support? I support free trade, but not this way. We now have a budget more nuclear power, why? If you use nukes who, will be around to drive the new tanks and fly the new planes? I think the czar wants to rule the world. Do what I say or I will blow you off the face of the earth. I worked with immigrants who work hard.
Mr. Longstreet,
Are you living in a time warp? Talk to your farming acquaintances in NE Allegan County. Ask how many have been full time farmers and how many acres they plant with how many people required for planting, fertilizing and harvesting.
For those in the dairy end of farming, ask how many people they require for their twice daily milking operations and as importantly how many members of Wayland, Hopkins and Caledonia high schools FFA chapters are wanting even summer jobs much less go to work fulltime for someone else.
An acquaintance of mine runs a dairy farm with 1000 plus head of milk producing cows. He’s an MSU dairy science grad who hired an MSU dairy science grad who got a minor in Technology Systems Management. All their cows are tagged and have their milk production, feed and medical treatments tracked. All that iPad and computer based learning is what they are using. Same goes for crop farming where its go big or sell/lease your land.
People know manual labor but there is little motivation for employers to step up and pay for it based on wages stagnating since the early 80’s and if you go into manufacturing plants you’ll notice fewer workers required because automation continues to improve and expand. That computer cased education is needed for people to program and repair machines on the shop floors.
When I left HS in the 70’s you could go to work at Steelcase, Herman Miller, GM or many of the tool and die shops. Some of those jobs are gone. Other companies have shrunk their workforces while others are keeping design and finish in the US while using Chinese labor to make the dies used by US automotive and large appliance manufacturers.
That’s the new reality and its being required by the guys in the corner offices of every US manufacturing company. Low bidder wins the job. They could care less if you employ workers at $18-$22 per hr (or more). Low bid gets the job. Its happened so much that many of companies that didn’t take advantage of off shore labor are no longer in business.
Are any of your children are in manufacturing? labor jobs? If not is it because they are allergic to hard work? I doubt it. Its more likely they have looked at what they think is the future and making prudent decisions. We need electrician, plumbers, carpenters and other skilled trades but in many cases we see many of the same folks who rail about America’s decline hiring workers from south of the border because they will work for less improving companies bottom lines.
Maybe its time we start asking our business leaders and small business owners why they eschew hiring and training American younger workers in favor of using imported workers who also want to work and are willing to do the work for less.
Same reason we shop at Meijer, Walmart and Target. Its cheaper.
I farmed for over ten years, my boys worked on the farm also. Baled hay cut wood and pitched sh!!. My grand daughter works on a dairy farm milking cows and feeding calves, 18 years old. Your big Allegan County farms hire custom fert and spraying. I’m also a ’70s grad, worked on a farm at 13 years old. After graduation, I worked for Cowbell Seeds handling 100,000lbs. of seed a day, then into construction no stranger to work. I am proud to say I worked hard and use my real name to respond, Couchman.
Mrs. Mandaville,
Please read the column, I stated “Please explain why we need cheap foreign labor so the affluent can get a maid or gardener for a slave wage?” Stating a person is under paid is demeaning? If you feel ten to twenty million illegals are not holding wages down, I disagree.
Thank you for the comment.
Couchman is 100% spot on. Tell it like it is. American business is the real rotting of America…. Btw, I give a shit less whether he uses his name or not!
I meant no disrespect towards farmers or labor required on a working farm.
My maternal grandparents were farmers in Ottawa County. They had four children. The two oldest worked on the farm and then left to become a boilerman in the Merchant Marines and the other a carpenter. The oldest helped move my grandmother and the two youngest to Grand Rapids so they could attend Davis Technical HS. Mother became a legal secretary uncle learned the tool and die trade. No one returned to the farm and their 80 acres were leased to a neighbor.
I disagree with the premise that technology is responsible for the lack of people who want to work hard. Hard work isn’t limited to manual labor.
I called on Flint and Pontiac for almost 20 years. In both cases GM played a big part in getting the right people on the school boards who played a big part in keeping the curriculum aimed at providing GM’s factories supplied with a low skill workforce. They had little interest in expanding college prep courses when they needed bodies for the assembly line.
Teaching work ethic , doing jobs well and completing them isn’t the responsibility of a school or school district. It’s up to parents, grandparents and extended family. Ito provide guidance and up to individuals to decide if they want to follow their advice/examples to choose their vocation.
We can’t stop technology. It doesn’t matter if it means fewer workers to farm, fewer workers in manufacturing plants , fewer skilled trades in large faculty construction or even fewer maintence workers required to maintain public services like power and water plants.
None of that is a direct result of our K-12 education system using technology.
Walter Issacson has a series of podcasts called Trailblazers. One highlighted technology in education. There was great consternation when techology was introduced in the classroom over 200 years ago when an educator introduced the blackboard and that was fought over too.
We either embrace change or are left behind.