Excellent points! But at the end of the day, Trump's tariffs seem more like an ego-driven money-grab rather than a sincere move to motivate re-shoring of manufacturing. I really suspect the whole manufacturing renaissance the administration cites as the key reason for this policy is really a ruse.
And with China a key target in the Trump Tariff debacle, China is punching holes in these punitive tariffs. Besides shipping goods to intermediary countries that are not as heavily tariffed then exporting to the U.S., China is taking ownership stakes in American businesses, thus circumventing the whole tariff thing. And the beauty of this is, they can take advantage of U.S. taxpayer benefits, such as an R&D tax credit, to sweeten the deal.
The trade deficit is shrinking because fewer goods are being imported. Producing countries are finding alternate markets that are outside of the US' punitive tariffing.
Of course, with the on/off again nature of these tariffs, the Supreme Court challenge and the fact that practically every country is being tariffed, uncertainty in the business world is epic right now. This uncertainty makes it difficult for manufacturers to see out 6 months, nevermind years down the road. Besides, it would take years to re-shore most manufacturing operations, some supply chains are very complex and the result of years of tuning and adjustments. This is not an overnight migration, as is being intimated. Frankly, I wonder if this is just a money-grab at the expense of the American consumer.
That is, of course, if your Chevy Bolt does end up in flames. According to letters from GM, never park your Bolt under the same roof you live and to be safe, park it away from any structure.
