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"If I get a T-shirt made in the USA, it's going to cost about $8 more; I looked far and wide to try to get a shirt made in America, it's just they get you, they gouge you."; -Bikers for America (formerly
Bikers for Trump) founder Chris
Cox attempting to justify his merch's
extranational manufacture, running
face-first into the reality of domestically
produced goods' pricing, apparently
failing to realize how he's been spoiled
by low-priced imported goods sourced
from economically depressed nations,
that it's not a matter of gouging for
domestic goods, it's a matter of imported
goods being artificially undervalued as
a result of corporate wrangling in
desperate labor markets. So let's talk about the campaign
noise Trump's made about
instating an across the board
200% tariff on imported goods.
As pretty much everyone's had
plenty of time to do their own
research it should be common
knowledge by now that:; it's the importers, not the countries of origin
paying the tariff; the importer passes that cost
on to the distributor, who passes it on to the
retailer, who drops the whole mess in the
customer's lap. Now, I know... some of you are probably
thinking "whatever -I won't buy the imports
anymore; problem solved" -which is a logical
choice *in theory.* But, as with all things in
the intertwined web of commerce, you can't
pull on one thread without moving others. Simply put, those low-cost imports were
acting as a control on domestic products'
prices; domestic manufacturers need their
products to sell -meaning they're obligated
to price competitively. But with that less-expensive alternative
converted to an even pricier product than
their own, domestic producers have room
to jack up their ask because what're you
gonna do? Where ya gonna go? You want
it? Well, the new "economy priced" is the
old "holy crap, I'll take my chances with
the import."; Oh, and if you feel grocery prices are too high
now, read the backs of the products in your
pantry and think about how much worse it's
going to get if Trump gets back in, follows thru.
