"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." A Liberal-supporting, environmentalist blog. We blog according to our opinions, not those of the party or government. Free speech must win and that's why we have this blog. The views of two Montrealers and a Libertarian.
Monday, December 06, 2010
The China Tax.
Donald Trump is known for his show called the apprentice, but he also put his two cents on the economy and how to fix it. His plan is to have a tax on all Chinese made goods. This is a brilliant idea. When China is cheating by manipulating it's currency there is no way we should just say okay. No all Government's in the world should place a 25% tax on all Chinese made goods. Then use the money you get from the 25% tax and subsidise Canadian made goods, And if China doesn't stop manipulating it's currency then the tax should continue increasing. Some would say that this is protectionism, but the reality is that China is cheating and being protectionism. I say punish China for cheating and help people in Canada get jobs not China. If all countries did this not only would China see that they would actually get more money if they stop manipulating there currency, but the unemployment rate in Canada would lower as business here are making more money.(UPDATE) Maybe this was unclear, but the tax would be placed on the companies exporting the goods from China to Canada.
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My god, this blog is unbelievable. Don't buy all the garbage about China cheating by devaluing its currency. The basic laws of economics will tell you that you can only cheat in that manner in the short term. In the longer run doing this will create higher inflation which then increases the cost of your goods - which is the same thing that would have happened if you had let you currency increase. And besides, I don't think most ordinary Canadians would agree to more taxes to help solve this problem, because its ordinary Canadians who'll end up paying this tax. And lastly, it was EXACTLY this type of moronic protectionist thinking that led to the Great Depression. China tax ... unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteWhy would we think that a communist government would not manipulate it's economy? Corruption aside, China and others are known for their rampant pollution and disregard for their ecology, yet no one has suggested a pollution tax.
ReplyDeleteridenrain, China is communist in name only. They stopped being communists the day they allowed millionaires to join the 'party', and I think that was in 1994 or so (well before they got back Hong Kong). I'd say they're bigger capitalists now than we are. Authoritarian yes, but no longer communists.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, you're correct about corruption and pollution. And a lack-of-pollution-laws tax would probably be part of the overall China Tax, along with a lack-of-pesky-unions tax.
And Anon, China is not playing by the rules and is protectionist itself. We can slap on any tax we want in retaliation, just like the US did to us over softwood. The Yanks were wrong about that, but they still did it regardless of NAFTA.
ReplyDeleteYes, a trade war will do wonders for the world ... well except for countries that have an overwhelming reliance on trade like, oh I don't know, CANADA! What a stupid idea.
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ReplyDeleteThe thing is Candians will benifit with this tax on China made products and a subsidy on Canadian made products. As more jobs will be employed here. More jobs lower uneployment rate. More jobs mean stronger economy.Stronger economy means benifits for us and putting China's cheating ways in cheack
ReplyDeleteChina is great!!
ReplyDeleteYa right, Canadians will benefit from increased taxes. Give your head a shake. Thank goodness this is a totally unsellable proposition. Special interest groups tried to get a tax on Chinese bikes but Harper realized it would be a TOTAL flop with the average Canadian since ordinary middle class Canadians are the ones who will get hurt the most with these types of taxes.
ReplyDeleteThe tax is on the chinesse company exporting the product or material in Canada. The canadian consumer will not suffer it will be the the Chinese company cheating that will suffer. The tax will not be on a signal Canadian.
ReplyDeleteCanada can't tax Chinese companies! They add a duty on goods imported into Canada from China which raises the price of goods for ordinary Canadians. That won't be a very popular policy so just give up on it already. Why would any party honestly think raising the costs for ordinary Canadians is something that will get them elected?
ReplyDeleteYes we can Anonymous. If a chinesse company says they want to bring there stuff to Canada then we say to them that they must pay a fee in order to do so. Until China stops it's cheating ways and stops being protectioness. Anonymous it may not be popular only, because when some people here tax Harper will run and scream that it will kill the canadian economy, but just like the carbon tax it helps canadians. The most popular policy isn't all ways right. We need leaders who will fight for the Canadians even if it is unpopular.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an ethnocentric and paternalist view of China. The only good news for our economy is that ordinary Canadians have more sense than you on this topic.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are saying is factually incorrect. First, its a duty/tariff, not a fee. Second, its not the Chinese company that pays the duty its the Canadian company that is importing the product that pays for it. And they transfer that increased cost onto consumers with higher prices. And you seem to have a rather ethnocentric perspective of China. They don't cheat. I'm not aware of any trade ruling anywhere that has found China to be cheating. In fact, they probably follow the trade rules a whole lot better than the U.S. Your comment on China was inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteCanada controls what country it has trade with, and right now we can say to these companies that are in China. Tell them that any company selling material or goods to Canada you must pay a fee or a tariff or whatever you like to call it. China does cheat on it's currency that is why there currency is so low. There is no question on if China is cheating or not the question is how do we stop China from cheating.
ReplyDeleteWow. Its quite a low blow to label China a cheating nation! Maybe its not ethnocentric but its certainly unsubstantiated. WTO does regular reviews of China and has never said anything even close to this. Since China was brought into the WTO in the early 2000s they have acted honourably. To call them cheaters is a cheap shot from someone privileged to live in a country like Canada. What's worse is you propose a 'China tax' which actually would violate WTO rules. Thus it would actually be you that would be the cheater! Typical hypocrisy from the privileged class of the globally economy. And, by the way, your China tax won't help anyone in Canada. Instead of importing the goods from China companies will import it from the next cheapest nation, but of course the goods will still be slightly more expensive so the cost of living for ordinary Canadians will still go up - further eroding their standing of living during these tough times. But you would feel good because you got your 'China tax'. Who writes this blog?
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