America Turning back to Protectionism

[Spiffor]

America's Congress is taking a harsher line on trade, particularly with China.

So is doing the EU. Actually, during the controversial travel of the French PM to China, one of the issues on the agenda was to raise tariffs against Chinese clothes.

It seems there can be a collective effort of the two trade giants in order to curb China's exports.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

and why would you want to raise tariffs? is JP Raffarin feeling the pressure from the snake Sarkozy?

[Imran Siddiqui]

well well well, it looks like Bush is once again, not the free trader that the economist and many people thought he was. Is China wrong with its peg? sure it is. But are we better off if China takes away all our manufacturing jobs? yep, we sure are. Not only that, it will remove a section of our society from being protectionist, making everyone else better off.

Indeed. This is horrible news. This protectionist fervor is going to bite us on the ass. After all, protectionism during the Great Depression made that particular downturn quite nasty for the world. If we want to have good growth, we have to embrace free trade, not just talk about it and then go the other way.

This China demonization, leading to protectionist measures, is just utterly dumb. If we tariff them, they'll retaliate against us, and that's quite a big market we'll be depriving our businesses from.

[Whoha]

Because of China's stellarly successful policies regarding trade protectionism we only export raw materials to them. They are not going to place tariffs on those.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

and that hurts them more then it hurts us.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
and why would you want to raise tariffs? is JP Raffarin feeling the pressure from the snake Sarkozy?

I don't know.

It's possible that the gov't is scrapping whatever it can, in order to hinder the steady rise of unemployment a little bit. (which is the only rational explanation I found as to why we push for the end of the weapon embargo on China).

It's possible that it is simply EU policy, and that I got it confused for a French initiative (hard to say what comes from French diplomacy and what comes from the EU). There is still a very real textile industry in the EU, and the Chinese textile industry is a real threat to it. It's not mere statistics, it's hunderd of thousands of jobs, EU-wide. You may look at this for an overview of the EU textile industry in 2003 (in French)

OTOH, I have no idea whether Sarkozy has anything to do with protectionnist policies. Actually, I thought he would be more of a free-trader than the old gaullist guard, who believe the neoliberal ideology (like any self-respecting rightwinger), but who retain a fondness for State intervention. I think Sarkozy would be much less fond of interventionism, considering that he wasn't in politics back when France was a mixed economy.

[Drake Tungsten]

This thread title is really badly worded...

[Lawrence of Arabia]

interesting stuff spiff. in 2003, the EU's imports of textiles, as a percentage from China, check in at less then 10%. whats all the huff about? the most interesting pages are 10 and 11, where we can see costs of production increasing, and where they discuss reasons for the fall in demand abroad (unfavorable exchange rates, bad economy, people by less, lower prices, relocation of businesses to china)

whatas interesting is that investment in textiles has gone down over the last two years (-11.7% and -7%) it seems that even the private sector knows that europe is becoming uncompetitive.

btw, where did you get this from?

[Verto]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
If it brings down the WTO, then this is a good thing.

I like it when unelected bureaucrats can't overturn our laws without recourse by U.S. citizens.

[Fake Boris]

"Free trade will bring democracy everywhere."

-George W. Bush

[Verto]

"Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debt and taxes and armies are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people...
[There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and....degeneracy of manners and morals....No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." -- James Madison

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I like it when unelected bureaucrats can't overturn our laws without recourse by U.S. citizens.

SCOTUS judges are also unelected.

[Ted Striker]

.

[Frankychan]

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Oncle Boris
"Free trade will bring democracy everywhere."

-George W. Bush [/QUOTE

Too bad those people that voted for him didn't see the big picture.

Short time gains for long time losses do not equal the same thing.

But I'll back out of this thread before the flames start happening.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
The Hague IC doesn't tell the U.S. what to do.

The US has a blanket exemption from the "International" (should read: European) Criminal Court.