Who would have thought a couple years ago that there would be a trade war going on between the US and China and people would be saying,
"China isn't that bad"....
Of course no one should be under any illusion about either parties, because they are both likely just as bad as each other. Yet, it does seem like the US is still underestimating how far China is willing to go, and because the US has now proven itself an unreliable trading partner, many countries that are also trading with China, aren't as keen to take sides. While Trump thinks everyone is looking to kiss his ass, what is actually more likely happening is that all the other countries are looking how they can gain from the situation.
Did you know that China is the biggest exporter of denim in the world? And Bangladesh is the biggest importer - they of course turn it into jeans.
The Big 3: Levi's, Wrangler, and Lee no longer make jeans in America. A few years ago, Levi's and Wrangler sold a Made in USA jean for over $200—but a recent search shows both have been discontinued.
But if you follow that link, the "made in America" jeans labels may use imported denim. So, it really is more assembled in the USA, isn't it? How many other products are similar, and then, if they were made in the US, how many people could afford to buy American made? A pair of Levi's from their official US website is $98 for men, not on sale, and they are made outside of the US and imported from various developing nations, like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico.
Are consumers willing to pay over $300 for a pair of basic Levi's?
Remember that their $200 "made in America" jeans were sold a few years ago, and weren't subject to 125% tariffs on China. But, China doesn't make the jeans, they just sell the denim to the countries that do. And this happens with a huge amount of items as China is over 30% of the world's production, so even though the direct tariffs are affected into the US, they are still selling indirectly through other countries, across many industries. And as the US is putting tariffs on many countries, they will look to do deals with their suppliers, namely China.
It isn't quite as simple as Trump makes out.
And, I really think that the administration has overestimated how willing countries are to "do a deal" with the US, considering that while they are still the largest market by far, there are now opportunities to minimize the US market, whilst increasing wealth locally instead. I reckon a lot of countries have been talking over the last few years about how to tackle the damage US service companies like the large tech conglomerates are doing to nations through not paying tax, and this is an opportunity.
Even though a lot of people support Trump and think he can do no wrong, I get the sense that this is going to be questioned, especially if the same people start feeling increasing hardship. I think that a lot of middle America has had it relatively easy in their lifetimes compared to many other countries, so if they start to feel a lot of financial discomfort and have their lives disrupted too much, they will push back - hard. As said, I think the administration has also underestimated both the appetite of the US public for hardship, and their ability to push back. Protests will escalate further, and the violence will ramp up also. To stop this, the US administration would have to openly turn against its own citizens.
That's why American's stockpile all those guns, right?
There has already been talk about states leaving the union, and the states that are likely to be able to leave and still trade internationally, are also the ones where the US makes most of its money from, and are probably also the places where there are not quite as many Trump supporters.
The land of the free?
Not under the current administration at least, because while all of these international games are being played, the citizen pawn is going to face increasing hardships, decreasing opportunity, and a lower quality of life - even if the corporations are making more profit. A profitable national economy doesn't mean wellbeing for the people, as we can see from so many of the failed states of the past and present. A rich country can be oppressive, and for sure, it can be corrupt.
Look at Venezuela.
They have more oil than Norway, but the oil fund in Norway owns two percent of the volume of all stocks in the world. Corruption and mismanagement at the top of the country, impacts heavily on the people below. And the inverse is true also, where the people of Norway enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world - they are also one of the least corrupt.
This silly "trade war" that is nonsensical in so many ways, might still be a catalyst for change for the better at a global scale, as long as the people don't fight to maintain the status quo. The current economy and the direction it has had for the last several decades is no friend of the people, it is the antithesis of what we need as a species looking for more wellbeing - because it looks for more profit. These games that are being played above our heads will hurt us, no matter who "wins" - unless we make sure that the winner is humanity itself. We need to change the economy to work for the masses, not against it.
We should do up our fly, otherwise we will be caught with our pants down.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
