Milton Garber
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
Britax is a popular manufacturer of children's car seats. Located in Fort Mill, South Carolina, they provide 300 jobs. Now, however, they are thinking of moving their operations to China. The reason is the Trump tariffs.
Britax imports the textiles they use on car seats. They import these from China and are subject to a 25 percent Trump tariff or tax rate. That is an expense paid and borne by Britax. They also pay a 15 percent tariff on imported metal products such as harnesses and buckles.
The rub is that Britax's main competitors import finished car seats from China tariff-free.
That's because they qualify for a safety exemption under the tariff rules. So, Britax provides 300 jobs in South Carolina and gets hit with tariffs, but their competitors provide jobs in China and pay no tariffs. (Source: Financial Times, 9/19/19)
This is one example of how tariffs distort trade and harm Americans. Think of soy beans for another.
The shame is that the Republicans have done this before and learned nothing. In 1930 a Republican Congress passed and a Republican President, Herbert Hoover, signed the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs on around 20,000 imported goods. Economic historians agree that these tariffs were major factors in reducing American exports and imports by more than half in The Depression.
Tariffs and tax cuts for the wealthy are staple Republican ideas. It's probably too late to avoid the coming recession, but it's not too late to stop voting Republican.