Everybody Talkin’ ‘Bout Trump!

Love him or hate him, his name is on everyone’s lips.

President Donald Trump is the most talked about person in the world today. His face is the most recognized face on the planet Earth.

Liberal talk shows talk about him, so called “conservative” talk shows talk about him. Every radio and television talk program talks about Donald Trump. If it wasn't for Donald Trump, these yammering dolts wouldn't even have a show. He is all they ever speak of.

Yes, 90% of it is negative press since the American media is bent hellaciously to the Left but as it has been said by many a famous person; “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”

Trump Derangement Syndrome dominates the Liberal American Landscape. The Leftists here in the formerly, and soon to be again, industrialized North East will just be having a normal conversation and then suddenly, bam! Like a bolt out of the blue they will blurt out:  “I hate Donald Trump!”

But we were only just ordering pizza.

Our “Allies” at the G7 are all abuzz at the audacity of President Trump’s demands that they open up their markets to U.S. goods. How dare he want equity for American markets? How arrogant!

But off they go to try and solve the riddle Mr. Trump has given them: “What do they do if they are frozen out of the U.S. market?”

All of Europe’s leadership is currently trying to sharpen their pencils.

If the United States is to bring back manufacturing in this country then we need a more favorable environment in which to sell the goods we produce. This is the heart of the matter.

The other G7 leaders can snear, give him the hard stare, they can protest and they can even try to crush Mr. Trump's hand but they better start thinking about how they can play ball with the United States.

Otherwise they could be on the outside looking in.

Vermont Hurt by Canadian Tariffs

Vermont shares a boarder with Canada. Major Vermont products consist of: Milk, Cheese and Maple Syrup. These are also the products Canada taxes at 270% of value in order to protect their similar markets from Vermont's competition. Despite the downplaying about the amount of business this amounts to by the Political Left, these industries mean a great deal to the state of Vermont to the point that dairy is subsidized by taxpayer money. I can personally attest to the high quality and the civic pride in which Vermonters have in these products.

It would be better for the Vermont state taxpayer to be able to have their dairy industry stand on its own. Opening up the Canadian marketplace for Vermont goods would be a good place to start.

Vermont did not vote for Donald Trump but as President, Donald Trump has their interests in mind.

We have yet to hear Bernie Sanders chime in about the impact of Canadian tariffs on Vermont exports. I would be interested in what he has to say. After all, he's a Vermont Senator.

Libertarianism and Tariffs

Now in my vast Libertarian library, every tome describes Tariffs as bad for business. And technically, on the surface, they appear to be just that. But that is the clinical interpretation of the device. When taking the reality of the situation, like right now, tariffs make a whole lot of sense.

First, my clinical texts all rely on the premise that our trading partners are playing by the same set of rules that we are. But they clearly are not.

A state run business can take the measure of dumping their inventory at below market rates and make up for the shortfall by shifting profits from more successful facets of their business collective. This does not happen under a capitalistic system since getting other businesses to give up their gains so another organization can take the loss would be next to impossible to pull off.

But totalitarian China can pull it off and they did.

What the dumping does is destroy the local industry to the point where most of the producers go out of business and the ones who do survive can no longer produce quantities to meet a larger demand. This produces dependence on the foreign imports and eventually China will make the money they lost taking the risk, back. They are then free to raise prices since their competition has been wiped out.

In the face of this threat to local industry, tariffs are a useful tool to combat such anti-capitalist practices by our “allies”.

Telling it Like it Is

So our President is telling it like it is to our European neighbors. He’s looked at our deals and he doesn't like them and wants a better deal. Europe doesn't want to give him one and would have dismissed Mr. Trump's overtures completely if he didn't throw up tariffs to get their attention. Well, he seems to have gotten their attention alright. And the thing I like the best is…

Mr. Trump is not bluffing.