Tariffs

[garyde]

U.S. TO IMPOSE TARIFFS ON CHINESE TIRES
'The Obama Administration announced it will put steep import duties on Chinese passenger and light truck tires, responding to what the U.S. International Trade Commision determined to be a surge of chinese tire exports that have rocked the domestic U.S. tire industry and displaced thousands of jobs.'

Hmm, what jobs?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jim Skiff, excuse me but I have to comment.

I was in the metal fabrication business for many years. I am guessing Harry will echo my comments.

We stole production from Koreans, Chinese and other offshore companies and learned how to produce efficiently without screwing our employees out of a decent wage. So back in the early 90s the steel companies lobbied for protection against foreign steel producers. They got it in the form of tariffs that raised the price of imported steel.

So what happened? The first thing that happened was the domestic steel companies raised their prices because they now were competing against higher priced foreign steel. What happened next was obvious to everyone except the government weenies that love protectionism.

We who used steel had to either eat the higher steel costs and lose money, or raise prices and lose customers. Where did the customers go? They bought the entire product from the foreign producers because the high tariffs were only on the raw materials and not the finished goods made from steel.

This process continues to repeat itself because the consumers are constantly driving towards the lower price supplier.

If the government weenies and the public want to deal with this issue they need to pass a simple law. Require 100% of our imports to be produced by manufacturers that must adhere to the exact same levels of taxation, regulation and environmental rules as the US manufacturers. That means observe our minimum wage laws, pay for WC and DBA, adhere to our environmental standards and meet all the OSHA requirements.

End of rant. Thank you for listening.

[JIM KELLER]

Jon, You are exactly correct ! How can there be confusion when it is this simple !

[Will Garner]

Jim,

During the run up to last November's election one interview on the national news stood out above all others. A lady was asked about O'bama. She replied he was wonderful and was going to pay off her home mortgage. Is that sufficient to answer your question concerning "confusion?"

Some one told me that ignorance can be corrected by education; idiocy on the other hand is forever.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The problem we have with stupid is it has become so widespread. If we passed laws against stupid we would be out of room in our jails.

What makes it so difficult is the dumb masses (you gotta say that one real fast) don't know how stupid they are.

I gotta stop ranting against this stuff because it makes it difficult to get to sleep at night.

[garyde]

The problem we have with stupid is it has become so widespread. If we passed laws against stupid we would be out of room in our jails.

What makes it so difficult is the dumb masses (you gotta say that one real fast) don't know how stupid they are.

I gotta stop ranting against this stuff because it makes it difficult to get to sleep at night.

I just thought it was farcical as a press release from the Govt. Where the hell do they make tires in this country anymore? If they do, it ain't many.
Its pure propoganda.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The tariffs were union driven, and it shows the mentality of those who flunked math and who do not understand business.

We competed directly against off shore producers of metal goods and while our customer would not cut us any slack on price, there were areas where we beat the offshore competitors. We could beat their delivery times easily and because we communicated with our customers we could make design changes instantly to respond to their needs. Our quality was better, but over time we would have lost that advantage so we capitalized on that to secure business, but knew a serious competitor would always be capable of the same quality. So even with equal pricing we had an edge.

What the unions do not see is that they and their management have the same opportunities we had. Accept the fact there are businesses not only across the street willing to take your job, but across the world. Ask any former textile worker if you doubt that. To preserve your job and business you must continually improve productivity and quality. Whatever level of perfomance was good today is not good enough tomorrow.

What the companies that move production offshore do not see is that they are training future competitors. When manufacturers take the easy way out by getting goods produced in developing countries they give those countries the technology to produce and compete in the global market. We had to use heavily computerized manufacturing methods to meet Korean and Chinese prices. They used cheap labor with low technology. It was only a question of time before they used technology to beat us.

Both the companies and the unions have blinders on. By getting protectionism the companies and the unions can relax their efforts and produce inefficiently and with lower quality and as time passes they find themselves so far behind the global standards they will never catch up. Look at our domestic steel mills that had to adopt more efficient production methods or perish. Because they resisted (except for Nucor Steel) there is no steel industry as we knew it 30 years ago. Look what the protection due to tariffs got them. It got them gone or seriously reduced in size.

I for one am grateful for all the foreign auto competition. It not only greatly improved the quality of our cars, including those produced by foreign manufacturers domestically, but it has shown us that we do have the ability to produce here competitively. You know that when Hondas produced in Ohio are exported. If the big three automakers had protectionism we would all be driving cars that were rusty, unreliable rattle traps and paying dearly for them.

For the short term the tariffs may level the playing field with pricing, but it is only a question of time before we see the same thing as what has happened in textiles, the steel industry, the forging industry, electronics, and countless other industries. All production will be offshore and we will pay rock bottom prices and the rubber industry and its workers will be an insignificant part of our industry.

[Will Garner]

Garyde,

Goodyear makes tires right next door in Fayetteville, NC. Don't know of others but surely there are more plants around the USofA.

[michaeldterry]

The tariffs were union driven, and it shows the mentality of those who flunked math and who do not understand business.



Jon - thanks for delivering the painful truth. Although some Americans don't like hearing it - that doesn't make it any less true and the truth will unfortunately become indisputable when the "chickens come home to roost". I pray to God (a currently politically incorrect thing to do) that enough Americans with the backbone to make tough decisions and choices will wake up and take our country back before we reach the point of no return! :eek: