Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
I never mentioned the word "tariff" and was never referring to tariffs at all. My point had nothing to do with trade. Please don't use me to make your own (faulty) point.
You said that anything that hits back at Chinese companies was great, so including tariffs obviously.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
German cars are among the least reliable cars with the lowest satisfaction, they don't even crack the top 10. Up until the late 90's they were great, sure, but these days a Hyundai made in Alabama is the the most reliable car. I guess if you want to be technical you could say a Hyundai is South Korean, but nevertheless a car made in America by American workers is indeed the most reliable. Not to mention the American made Toyotas etc. Even Chevy is more reliable than the Germans these days.
Please, at least make some serious points. German cars are the best in the world, as evidenced not just by countless consumer surveys outside Chattanooga Tennessee, but also by demand for German cars the world over, including incidentally the US. There's a reason why Trump is so upset about seeing so many German cars on the streets in New York.
Did this survey also mention blacks are terrible at basketball, Japanese knifes don't cut and Scottish whisky is not all that? I mean seriously, man, make some real points.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
Pretty simple to anyone who knows the situation: Because the rich Chinese want bling bling Western "prestige" brands. That's it. They can't get enough of the perceived "luxury" brands. It is 100% to show off. In fact sometimes they initially don't even know what a specific brand is and have to be taught that it is a Luxury Western Good, then they buy. That's all that matters.
Well, US car manufacturers also have 'bling' cars. But nobody is buying them, not even the Chinese who love to study in the US. Why is that? Because American 'bling' cars are not as good as German 'bling' cars. That's why. If merely 'bling' were the issue the US would have no issue at all, as the bling nation par excellence.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
Oh, and Cadillac is the #4 luxury brand in China btw, above Lexus and others. Why? They think it has "heritage and prestige". And Cadillac isn't great in reliability.
Cadillac is not the fourth most sold in China, not even close.
https://www.ft.com/content/b53c85ac-cd47...069bde0956
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
My god I don't want to weak! We better be strong and have unfettered "free" trade and see who comes out on top! I wonder if totalitarian China with slave labor and manipulated currency and massive pollution has any advantage though? Who cares, it's weak to resist this, we have to play "fair"!
If you're not going to play fair then don't make bullshit claims like 'we will level the playing field'. The US is doing nothing of the sort. If you're just afraid of Chinese competition, say 'we are afraid of competing with other countries and we will hide behind tariffs because we are cowards and see no other way out'.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
If you are strong you will let that bull fuck your wife! Prove your strength! Don't be weak!
See, so you see yourself as the weakling and China as the bull. Tariffs emanate from a weakness mentality, this proves it yet again. You are also admitting that China has cucked you for years now in that case. There used to be a time when the USA was not afraid to compete and rather than whine about everyone else and hide behind tariffs just got on with being the world's most powerful economy. Do you see the weakness here?
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
No one can compete with China on price or volume. The west doesn't have unlimited 3rd world priced labor. Having that as the standard and implying that if you can't compete directly with that then you're "weak and cowardly" is asinine.
So you can't compete with China on price and you can't compete with Germany on quality? So what can you do? Apart from hiding behind tariffs? You claim China has an unfair advantage, it's no longer a slave labour economy btw, wages there have risen continually. Meanwhile Germany, rather than whining about China is selling more cars there than the US, who has only one GM model in the top ten at tenth place.
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Reason why German cars are outselling American cars is not because of tariffs, it's because the world wants to buy German cars because they are better.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
Again, no, it's not because of quality.
People are not buying German cars because they are quality cars? Really, interesting theory, bro. Then why did you say so yourself in your own post, you said the Chinese want to buy 'better' cars. That's the real reason why German cars are selling whereas American cars are not, isn't it, German cars really are quality cars, whereas American cars are known to be of rather poor manufactured quality and simply not as good as the competition.
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Now even the tiniest coal mine in the US is of crucial importance to the US economy apparently.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
In one moment you are arguing for Bill Kristol no borders no restriction "free" (lol) trade, but then you are also stating that the U.S. economy has been damaged greatly (true) and how even the smallest things are important.
I'm not saying that at all, some people can appreciate irony other's can't. I was merely pointing out that there used to be a time when the US would simply take certain disadvantages abroad in its stride, because it was in a position of strength. Now even a tiny coal mine is of importance, because the US economy now operates in a position of weakness vis a vis China. See your paranoia about Chinese 'slave labour' above.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
It sure seems like an economy that needs to "protect" itself then, dosen't it?
That's just it, it doesn't. The US economy is the strongest in the world. It could just seek to match other countries exports. Germany outsells you in cars? Make better cars. Instead it seeks to hide, to take the comfort blanket of tariffs. Like a little scared boy. But the US economy is not a sapling anymore, it's a fully fledged fatso bully adult.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
But what you - and that consumer - don't realize or seem to care about is that you're buying yourself out of a job and a country. Artificially cheap stuff is great, right up until there are 100 million American citizens who are permanently without employment, businesses and communities gone, misery and suicide. But at least we played "fair" with China and weren't "weak".
The reason why business communities are gone in the US has more to do with the lack of ability to produce products others want to buy. Huawei does not produce artificially cheap stuff, their products are excellent, high quality and receive rave reviews the world over, and as such are priced accordingly. They're not penny phones. If the US keep up the tariffs of course things will just get worse. Prices and inflation will go up, outside buyers will switch to other producers and there will be more Americans in poverty.
Quote: (12-06-2018 07:11 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:
It absolute blind ignorance and insanity to suggest that China simply is or wants to play "fair" and that any resistance to outright direct unfettered "free" trade competition with them is "weak". Trade and manufacturing is so distorted in favor of China there could be tariffs imposed on China until the end of time and we may still never reach a level playing field.
Nobody is saying the world is 'fair', all I am saying is stop claiming this bullshit that you are imposing tariffs to 'level the playing field' and make competition 'fair'. You are doing the exact opposite, imposing huge tariffs to give an advantage to the US. So on the one had you complain that China does not play fair, but you, the Americans, are not playing fair in the slightest imposing massive tariffs. China at least doesn't claim it's tariffs are 'fair', neither should the US.