Most important part of these tariffs:
“The trade rule allows packages to be shipped from foreign countries directly to consumers or businesses without paying tariffs, as long as the shipments do not exceed $800 per recipient per day. The new proposal would strip that exemption from a wide array of products and most likely have a significant impact on large importers of Chinese goods such as Shein and Temu, two online marketplaces that have become popular with American shoppers.”
This trade rule being taken advantage of by Aliexpress, Temu, and Shein is the sole reason why significant amounts of Americans could still afford to buy a lot of consumer goods despite having their real wages crash year after year. This would genuinely trigger another cost of living crisis
Can someone ELI5 why America seems so dead set about throwing away all its supply chains? And does the EU have this problem?
There’s competing factions in the US deep state right now. Some more invested in US hegemony are trying to force reindustrialization because they are starting to realize that finance capital has been eating away at the core productive forces required to project real military power abroad. Other factions resist this, as it cuts into the immediate profit margins, and so they awkwardly fight.
I think this is important to remember. While the American ruling class will show class solidarity when dealing with the working class, they fight amongst themselves frequently and often.
they’re decoupling in preparation for war. not meant to be a snarky or sarcastic comment, it’s just that simple.
The appearance of being tough on China, and possibly short term profits. If Chinese goods become prohibitively expensive, then consumers will have no choice but to turn to American (or perhaps other countries’) goods which will benefit those companies. These profits, positive reception from muh mom and pop shops and big domestic brands like Ford and co., and the optics might prove meaningful for the bird brained democratic voter.
But so many of these companies rely on Chinese supplies. The US sucks the cocks of ‘farmers’ so hard that they might as well build a milking facility. If they’re unable to source elsewhere at comparable prices, they will force the government to walk back on these policies. So far they have been able to survive’s Trump’s tariffs, but Biden is being even more brazen.
And does the EU have this problem?
Yes, even harder than America, but the sole reason is because USA wants to cut Europe from any geopolitical alternative and thus the EU compradors cut off from Russia, causing serious crisis, and for example in Poland we hear talk about taxing Chinese imports more and more. Thing that stops them somewhat is the fact that nearly everything sold in EU including all the treats, are made in China.
