Dotard tRump'a idiotic trade war with China is another abuse of the powers of the presidency. He is not actually authorized to impose tariffs. Tariffs being the province of Congress and not the Executive.
| Wikipedia/Trump Tariffs: ...the International Emergency Economic Powers Act shifted [section 8] powers even more towards the White House. The Trump administration claims that it gives the President the authority to raise tariffs without any limits during a national emergency of any kind. Legal scholars disagree because the IEEPA does not mention tariffs at all and transfers no authority of tariffs towards the President. |
(Note: Section 8 of the US Constitution says "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises...).
Dotard does not have the power to levy tariffs. At all. Even in a "national emergency", which we aren't in. But Dotard thinks we are in some kind of "globalism emergency" -- I guess. While I don't entirely disagree, China is ripping us off because the oligarchs bought off (mostly) Congressional republicans. republicans are the "free trade" party while Democrats have traditionally been the party opposed to sending our jobs overseas (WJC and BHO being exceptions and not the rule). And Dotard is going about fixing the problem in entirely the wrong manner.
The real solution to this problem is to elect a Democrat who wants to work with Congress to fix our trade policies. Either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Dotard's use of Executive powers (he does not actually have) means that, unless a trade agreement with China is reached and passed by Congress, nothing is accomplished. The next president won't continue the stupid tariffs (especially if the Democratic president isn't Sanders or Warren but one of the other more "moderate" Dems). One thing that WILL be accomplished (and will stick), however, is the harm to our agricultural export markets.
This explains why Dotard's tariffs are not working. China knows that they only need to wait until Dotard leaves office (by impeachment or by being defeated in 2020). Their pain is temporary. What little pain they suffer due to the tariffs. American consumers pay the tariffs (contrary to what the lying Dotard claims). China's strategy has been to devalue their currency to make up for (some) of the assessed tariff.
American companies know this. Which is why they don't move production back to the US and employ Americans to make their products. All they need to do is wait for Dotard to leave office and it's back to business as usual (under republicans and 3rd way conserva-dems). So why the HELL should they negotiate a new trade agreement? Especially when the predisent's own party does not support tariffs.
The ONLY long term accomplishment that Dotard is cementing in place is the harm to farmers. The cartoon I posted at the top of this post is funny, but not quite representative of how badly Dotard is harming American farmers. Bankruptcies and suicides among American farmers are up, which isn't funny at all. And it makes one wonder why the hell so many farmers continue to support him. The Dotard subsidies to farmers only make up a portion of the money they are losing. And the subsidies won't continue forever. They will go away, but the markets are lost.
China is going elsewhere to buy the agricultural goods they were buying from American farmers. I've heard South America. And they'll continue to buy these goods from South America regardless of what happens. What happens, BTW, won't be that China bows to Dotard's pressure and agrees to sign a new trade deal. Dotard's first term is almost over, so why wouldn't they simply wait him out?
We don't even need to negotiate with China. All we need to do is pass trade legislation through Congress that gradually raises tariffs. New legislation will prove to American businesses that manufacture their goods overseas that it's in their interest to move production back to the United States.
What we could have done, instead of giving these corporations a huge tax cut (which they used to buy back their own stock, as predicted, and not to give American workers raises), would have been to give corporations tax cuts conditioned on them moving production back to the US. Proof that Dotard doesn't know what the f*ck he's doing. Or he lied and this is all a show. Because, while I agree with Dotard concerning the threat of globalism, the incredibly stupid way he decided to "fight" it is not working.
The correct way to fight globalism is to change trade policy - legislation passed by congress which gradually raises tariffs. Legislation that would also give conditional tax cuts to these corporations. Hire Americans and get a tax cut. As opposed to giving unconditional tax cuts.
All the Dotard tax cut did was boost the stock market. Instead of doing squat to combat Dotard's supposed goal of fighting globalism. Do what the wealthy want (give them unconditional tax cuts) and OF COURSE the profits of the corporations they own will increase and the stock market will go up. Duh. Yet the trumpturds are fooled. And they (while crying about it during Obama's presidency) have no problem with Dotard's exploding deficits. So stupid.