It doesn't happen often but Paul Krugman nailed this one.
Yesterday, the New York Times dropped a Krugman opinion piece, The Great Soybean Conspiracy, in it he said:
So how will this conspiracy-minded administration react when domestic victims of its trade policy start complaining? ...Less than 24 hours later, the demonization has begun by Trump, following news that because of the Trump launched trade war Harley-Davidson was moving some of its production overseas.
What I predict...is that it will start seeing villains under every bed. It will attribute the downsides of trade conflict not to its own actions, but to George Soros and the deep state. I’m not sure how they can work MS-13 into it, but they’ll surely try.
The point is that the politics of trade war will probably end up looking like Trump politics in general: a search for innocent people to demonize.
Trump immediately started lashing out at the motorcycle manufacturer and ended his tweetstorm with a threat to tax the company like "never before" because "Harley-Davidson's should never be made anywhere other than America," when the company is opening up overseas only because it does want to not lose business as a result of Trump's trade war.
Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag. I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U., which has hurt us badly on trade, down $151 Billion. Taxes just a Harley excuse - be patient! #MAGA— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018
Early this year Harley-Davidson said they would move much of their plant operations in Kansas City to Thailand. That was long before Tariffs were announced. Hence, they were just using Tariffs/Trade War as an excuse. Shows how unbalanced & unfair trade is, but we will fix it.....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2018
....When I had Harley-Davidson officials over to the White House, I chided them about tariffs in other countries, like India, being too high. Companies are now coming back to America. Harley must know that they won’t be able to sell back into U.S. without paying a big tax!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2018
A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end - they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2018
-RW
From the Detroit Free Press:
ReplyDeleteThe auto industry and everyone who relies on it should get ready for some pain if President Donald Trump follows through on a threat to levy tariffs on imported vehicles and parts.
Moody's Investors Service said the move would harm the credit rating outlook for the global industry, highlighting the danger faced even by domestic automakers Ford and General Motors.
"A 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and parts would be negative for nearly every segment of the auto industry — carmakers, parts suppliers, car dealers and transportation companies — as it rippled across the globalized supply chain that we forecast will produce about 96.7 million light vehicles this year," according to the assessment released Monday.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/06/25/moodys-tariffs-threaten-auto-industry/731677002/
What will happen to Trumpie's 10,000 vote margin of victory in Michigan? The status of the auto industry is announced minute by minute on Detroit local news. And the New Democrat candidates waiting in the wings are of the Gang-of-Four/Khmer Rouge variety.
"What I predict...is that it will start seeing villains under every bed. It will attribute the downsides of trade conflict not to its own actions, but to"
ReplyDeleteThe left projects their behaviors on to others. That's all that Krugman did here. He projected what socialist states so often do. It's a stopped clock being right twice a day or even less given Trump's central planning leanings.
If my law school memories are intact, I am pretty sure Bills of Attainder are expressly prohibited in the U.S. Constitution.
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