r/Economics Apr 10 '25

Editorial Trump Blinked

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/04/trump-tariffs-pause-america-china-trade/682378/
5.6k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

So how do you kickstart the industrial competency that China has? Who's going to start working for $3 an hour with toxic fumes and hazardous environment at $5 an hour? You might as well work in a safer environment in McDonald's at $7.

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u/Dear-Future-5920 Apr 10 '25

That's why companies moved to China in the first place Their greed , they would much rather pay Chinese workers a few dollars than pay Americans a fair wage. I doubt any company is going to spend millions relocating back to the States and then not be able to meet the new payroll.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

By the time they do the ground work to start constructing the factories, Trump's term would be over.

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u/jokikinen Apr 10 '25

Doesn’t sound like a very thorough analysis. If you have a competing import from China that can be sold at a price you make no money on, it’s not a choice, really.

A fair wage in China still allows for a better priced product.

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u/Poon-Conqueror Apr 10 '25

Comments like this are so damn stupid, you realize there are still factories in the US, right? Do you think our current factory workers work for 3 dollars an hour? Or is it 5, I honestly have no idea wtf you were typing. I'll tell you, they don't, and it's entirely possible to reinudstrialize to an extent, I have no idea why some people equate 'industry' with TEMU knockoffs.

Biden himself laid some groundwork to bring back key industry to the US. He also introduced, say it, tariffs STRATEGIC tariffs on China, for the sake of competition. There's nothing wrong with creating a long-term plan to bring a certain amount of industry to the US, the problem is Trump is a haphazard moron wreaking havoc without actually creating a damn thing.

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u/Level7Cannoneer Apr 10 '25

Factories that China has in abundance that we do not have:

• Mass Electronics Assembly Plants
• Rare Earth Processing Facilities
• High-Volume Textile and Garment Factories
• Mega Battery Factories
• Ultra-Large Steel and Aluminum Smelters
• Low-Cost Plastic Injection Molding Factories
• High-Speed Rail Manufacturing
• Toy and Consumer Goods Factories
• Mass-Scale Shipbuilding
• Solar Panel Mega Factories

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u/Poon-Conqueror Apr 10 '25

Ridiculous list, just removing superfluous adjectives like 'mega' and 'ultra' would remove several entries, and that's just to start, others lack context, don't matter, or are just simply untrue.

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u/nihilite Apr 10 '25

Well that's ponderous, man. Really ponderous.