tariffs

The recent discussions about tariffs (import taxes) has fallen into the trap of either or when in fact that there are many variations. Most economist agree that tariffs are not good because they lead to everyone increases taxes to protect their own countries. The general rule is that if country A can make widgets more efficiently that other countries then they should make them and export them. This makes sense and holds true as long as all countries play by the same rules. China was allowed into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and immediately began to break the rules. First they manipulated their currency to make their products less expensive. Second they used government money to subsidize certain industries, like steel, to dump cheap steel on the world market and run competitors out of business. Third they used cheap and in some cases slave labor and forth they have little to no regulations on how things are produced leaving workers in dangerous on the job situations and no environmental concerns. This unfairness was recognized early on by Trump who place import taxes on many Chinese products. Biden was also aware of the unfair trade practices of China and not only kept the Trump tariffs but added more.