posted
time to pay the Chinese back the money they have loaned US by putting an across the board import tax on ALL Chinese goods
China raises import duty on US cars
China raises import duty on US cars
China is to impose extra duties on cars imported from the United States in a move bound to ratchet up tension between Washington and Beijing.
General Motors, Chrysler and BMW will all be affected. China says its own domestic car industry is being damaged by subsidised US exports.
The tariffs, ranging from two percent to 22 percent, are unlikely to inflict much pain on American carmakers, who generally only import a small fraction of what they sell in China.
But by hitting a powerful industry that has benefited from a US government bailout, China can signal a tough stance in the face of rising pressure over its trade practices while at the same time pressuring American companies into lobbying on its behalf.
China’s move comes as the United States — increasingly frustrated with a mammoth trade deficit and what it calls unfair treatment of US companies in China — changes its own tactics.
Instead of focusing on dumping of cheap Chinese-made goods, it is building a case that China’s support for state-owned firms — from discounted land and electricity prices to loans that can be perpetually rolled — violates World Trade Organisation rules.
oh and BTW? that tax should be double on Chinese goods made from Glass
CashCowMoo
posted
I wish we would have the balls to do the same to Chinese goods.
glassman
posted
quote:Originally posted by CashCowMoo: I wish we would have the balls to do the same to Chinese goods.
my due diligence indicates that we could tax many chinese goods 50% of cost (at the border) and it would hurt the importer much more than the consumer. of course they would pass it on, but the profits at the border are pretty high. i can find many items on ebay direct from china for 1/5th the cost they are here retail.
one item i know costs 5$ to have shipped here direct via ebay from china retails here at the store for 35-40$. higher dollar items may not have as much margin, but a 2.50$ tax on a five dolalr item that retails eventually for 40$ will hardly be noticed by the retail consumer. the importer/US wholesaler on the other hand, would be hit very hard. So IMO, it's not balls per se that stops US, it's the importer/wholesalers, who are fighting it.
I see chinese blown glass now retailing for less than i can buy materials to make them. forget the energy costs, it's getting stupid.
CashCowMoo
posted
We are now even importing Chinese cement.
IWISHIHAD
posted
Originally posted by Glassman:
"I see chinese blown glass now retailing for less than i can buy materials to make them. forget the energy costs, it's getting stupid." _________________________________________________
That's the problem with many other true American Made industries, that's why we see our job market dying.
Many textiles get killed because of this.
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glassman
posted Many textiles get killed because of this.
yes, i am seeing people pass by my more expensive, and therefore profitable peices to buy much less expensive works. this i s combination of seeing cheap chinese peices for so much less, and having less "disposable income. I can compete on creative/artistic level, their work is not very good, but when people see a (crappy) handblown hummingbird feeder at ACE hardware for 15$ they want to know why my stuff costs ten times more.... it's hard to 'splain it to them without being rude.
as to textiles, it makes me very angry to see all the cotton we grow here leaving the country in bales.
every fall i see millions of pounds of cotton baled up and leaving when we could be "spinning" it ourselves. it's criminal.
glassman
posted
seems to me that these people deserve better, you have to ask yourself who is responsible for this situation>:
Foxconn settles with workers who threatened mass suicide Employees at a Foxconn factory in Wuhan, China, some of whom reportedly threatened to kill themselves over a wage and working-conditions dispute, have instead come to an agreement with the manufacturer.
Foxconn, which makes products for Apple, Microsoft, and others, said today that it had reached a deal with the protesting employees, the NYT reported. Most of those workers will return to work, although Foxconn also said that 45 workers involved in the dispute had resigned.
Earlier this month, workers at Foxconn's Xbox factory in China grew disgruntled after their requests for pay raises were denied. On January 2, the employees reportedly said they would stage a mass suicide--by jumping off the roof of the factory--if their demands were not met.
Microsoft took the threats seriously and immediately launched an internal investigation into the matter. Although that investigation is still ongoing, the company announced what Foxconn reiterated today, telling CNET that a deal had been reached.
"It is our understanding that the worker protest was related to staffing assignments and transfer policies, not working conditions," a Microsoft representative told CNET yesterday. "Due to regular production adjustments, Foxconn offered the workers the option of being transferred to alternative production lines or resigning and receiving all salary and bonuses due, according to length of service. After the protest, the majority of workers chose to return to work. A smaller portion of those employees elected to resign."
Over the last two years, at least 16 Foxconn employees have committed suicide in the company's Shenzhen, China factory. Three other workers attempted to kill themselves at the factory. Those deaths have prompted the company to say that it will install "suicide nets" around the factory to discourage employees from jumping from buildings. Foxconn has also offered some workers a 20 percent wage increase to improve morale.
posted ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)