Asking this because it’s known that the reason everything’s been offshored is for profit, so I’m curious as to how much people here are willing to pay extra for a product if it gets made in the US again. 10% extra? 20%? 30%? How much of a markup for American labor is too much?
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Yes, but a hard no to the other. Taxing imports makes the local companies overly comfortable. If you want people to buy "Made in America", you need it to be better than the alternative.
Anyone who's driven or even seen a British Leyland car would understand this is a bad idea. Competition is necessary to keep quality high for the consumer.
They're overly comfortable now, because they can sit with their HQ here and claim to be a US company while they outsource two thirds of their jobs to pajeets for pennies on the reportable payroll. And that's not even counting how foreign labor creates a huge negatives effect on the local skill base in so many industries.
Taxing imports represents the opportunity cost that you're skipping out on by employing foreigners who don't pay taxes or spend their money in our economy. It is an absolutely necessary step.
How about a heavy tax on companies (in any country) that don't comply with environmental, safety, and humanitarian standards?
Like, you want to buy Nikes make in a sweatshop? Add a 10% Slave Tax.
Want the new iPhone but Apple workers are committing mass suicide in China? 15% safety tax.
Company dumps it's toxic waste into the ocean instead of containing it long term? 20% Polluter Tax.
Let them do what they like, but charge them for the actual costs that governments will have to spend to clean up their mess.
Something like that would easily be weaponized. I can see "equality tax" already just from reading that.
Doesn't Aston Martin use a lot of AMG parts?
Yes.
Aston Martin cars used to be absolutely awful.
They were glorified ads for AM.
IIRC, AM even paid for some of the production costs.
Not everyone wants better for all products. A lot of the time, a Chinese product might be 80% of the capabilities of the non-Chinese product but 50% of the price. People will put up with the slightly inferior product because it’s perceived as the better value.