A few weeks ago, in a case involving a tire import surge President Obama enforced our trade agreement with China. The agreement spelled out that a disruptive surge in imports would be remedied by imposing a tariff, which is what the President did. Of course he was accused of “protectionism” be people confused about the meaning of the word.
In today’s news China is imposing a tariff on US nylon. Beijing Goes After U.S.-Made Nylon,
The ruling was the latest in a series of punitive measures that started last month, when the administration of President Barack Obama imposed a 35 percent tariff on Chinese-made tires. Beijing quickly followed up with a threat to increase tariffs on American exports of chicken meat and car parts.
. . . He Maochun, a professor of economics and diplomacy at Tsinghua University, said China had no choice but to combat American protectionist measures with its own.
The article fails to inform readers that the President was simply enforcing an agreement we had in place with China, and the Chinese statement that this is “protectionist” goes unchallenged. It is unfortunate that the New york Times misleads readers like this.
Does this Chinese tariff hurt or help American manufacturing? Nylon is a raw material. This means toothbrushes, etc. that have been manufactured in China will be much more expensive to import now. Isn’t this an opportunity to start making these things in America again?
