Trump: Apple should build 'their damn things' in US

[starcitizen]

Sure they can... just invade the country

We're not Russian or Muslims though.

 

[PeteEU]

We're not Russian or Muslims though.

Are you sure? Russians are mafia corporate types that live off greed... sound familiar? Muslims are religious ... just like Americans. Maybe you are Russian Muslims!

 

[fmw]

And you think putting up more will somehow make things better? Riight...

Here is the last time we tried it:

Bush lifts steel tariffs to avert trade war | US news | The Guardian

That was a mistake. We are the big consumers. We will win any trade war that occurs. So much fear. Americans are interested in helping everyone but themselves.

 

[Casper]

'Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump warned that he would force Apple, the U.S.'s most profitable company, to manufacture all of its products in the U.S. if he is elected president in November 2016.

...

During his 45-minute speech on Martin Luther King day, Trump also claimed to support free trade yet insisted he'd impose a 35 percent tax on businesses producing goods overseas, including Ford cars that are produced in Mexico.'

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/19/trump-apple-should-build-their-damn-things-in-us.html


Thoughts?

He does know he is not running for Emperor, doesn't he?
Trump says lots of things, the majority of it is Pure BS.

 

[Blue_State]

/snip
is spouting nonsense in a hope that low intelligent racists will vote for him.
/snip

Both sides do this incredibly well. He isn't the first, he won't be the last. Welcome to US politics.

 

[The SwampDonkey]

A business mogul? Whom could you be talking about? Not some that goes bankrupt and leaves investors holding the bag right?

You don't think "business mogul" is a fitting description of Donald trump?

 

[JasperL]

The United States is never going to be the manufacturing giant that it was. The jobs that used to provide for a family simply do not exist anymore. It is way cheaper to do them in different nations, and even in the United States the pay has decreased significantly. Automation has also killed a vast amount of jobs that paid well before. People need to give up their pipe dream of the middle class being resurrected by non existent manufacturing work.

OK, maybe someone can help me out. What I don't get in the long term is we sent almost $800 billion to the rest of the world in net imports in 2011 and it's currently running about $500 billion negative. Graph here:

https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NETEXP

That money has to cycle back here, but the only way I know of is through the holders of those $800 billion to buy up pieces of our asset base - land, businesses, stocks, bonds. And the profits from those assets contribute to the same problem. They're paid to overseas owners and have to be recycled to the U.S. through purchases of more assets. At the end of the day, we're trading pieces of the country for consumer goods - iPhones in your example. And consumers are sending money to overseas locations for plants, salaries, etc. and the money is coming back through Wall Street and to holders of other assets like land and golf courses and hotels.

Seems unsustainable to me in the long term, unless at the end of the long term we're just a country owned by foreign investors. So it seems the question is how and when this eventually balances out rather than if. Currency changes are supposed to moderate this - our currency drops in purchasing power, makes foreign goods more expensive (a tariff effectively), the production is brought back home. But in the meantime if we've lost the expertise to bring that production back - that's what Tim Cook alleges - then we've f'd ourselves for a while, to serve the short term interests of Wall Street and other owners of assets in this country.

This isn't my area of expertise, so if I've missed a step or three, someone can correct me, but what's frustrating is it's hard to find a discussion of this.

 

[ludin]

'Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump warned that he would force Apple, the U.S.'s most profitable company, to manufacture all of its products in the U.S. if he is elected president in November 2016.

...

During his 45-minute speech on Martin Luther King day, Trump also claimed to support free trade yet insisted he'd impose a 35 percent tax on businesses producing goods overseas, including Ford cars that are produced in Mexico.'

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/19/trump-apple-should-build-their-damn-things-in-us.html


Thoughts?

how would he force them?

if this happened you would see the cost of items double or triple.
people would actually lose their jobs.

 

[Cephus]

I'll try and make it more simple - US companies cannot apply US laws when on foreign soil.

Of course they can, at least in the majority of incidences. They can pay their people more, they can treat them better, they can install environmental controls, etc. So long as what they are doing also complies with local laws, which being better than local laws still do, they can easily comply.

 

[cpwill]

Tariffs? Taxes on companies who manufacture products overseas? No, I can't. Unless you are hinting at Sanders.

I don't think that was a hint - it had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer blow to the face.

But I haven't paid any attention to him yet, so I have no idea of his positions. I'm guessing he said he'd raise taxes on Corps, all Corps.

In a variety of ways, targeting especially those who do business overseas.

But did he say he'd raise taxes on JUST the Corps who manufacture overseas?

Just as in "only"? No, Bernie is raising taxes on everyone, including you and me.

However, he has a special place in his heart for US businesses that manufacture overseas, which is why he wants to tax them on their foreign profits whether or not they repatriate them, take away their ability to use deductions such as interest-on-debt for US taxes, and double-tax by not allowing them to deduct taxes already paid abroad (he's also trying to ban some methods of moving ones' headquarters overseas - just because we're going to tax and regulate the snot out of you here doesn't mean you get to escape).

That's the key point here. IIRC Trump has said he wants to drastically lower Corps. tax rate. But then he says he's going to put a 35% tax on imported goods? Come on, that will never work.

It won't work if the goal is to produce economic growth. It will work if the goal is to be popular. Both Trump and Sanders are riding high on the "dirty foreigners are terkin er jerbs" platform, and it seems to be succeeding.

 

[cpwill]

how would he force them?

He's Donald Trump. Tiny things like the Constitution aren't a barrier - he's going to get it done through the power of getting it done because management and being smart and winning and winning so smart that you get it done because you have to get things done because winning makes you a winner and winners win and winners get things done by getting them done. Winner.

It's science.

if this happened you would see the cost of items double or triple.
people would actually lose their jobs.

No, the Laws of Economics do not apply to Trump because "Winner" - remember?

 

[ludin]

He's Donald Trump. Tiny things like the Constitution aren't a barrier - he's going to get it done through the power of getting it done because management and being smart and winning and winning so smart that you get it done because you have to get things done because winning makes you a winner and winners win and winners get things done.

It's science.



No, the Laws of Economics do not apply to Trump because "Winner" - remember?

I was never going to vote for him to begin with.
I thought about it for like 2 seconds then he started speaking.

some things he says are ok others like this I go "huh".

I am sure he doesn't remember but we tried that whole built in America thing before.
it didn't turn out that well.

 

[Texmex]

your example hinges on american companies not competing against each other and not just the chinese. It's no wonder you can't understand where trump is coming from. The only american companies that have monopolies are companies like charter, time-warner, etc. And btw, they're corrupt as hell and buy politicians who allow them to maintain said monopolies. trump won't be bought.

roflmfao!

 

[PoS]

That was a mistake. We are the big consumers. We will win any trade war that occurs. So much fear. Americans are interested in helping everyone but themselves.

Umm, what? The EU has got a bigger trading block than us and if the Chinese join in an alliance with them against us we're screwed. The only thing keeping us ahead of the game right now is that the US dollar is the reserve currency of the world but if we start putting up tariffs thats going to change real fast.

 

[vesper]

In YOUR opinion, which doesn't mean much against his lifetime of experience in those markets you don't display any understanding of yourself.

Besides, with Trump, if you had been listening with open ears and mind, the position is his opening position on negotiation. Can you see that if Apple were to bring just 10% of it's overseas manufacturing home what that would do for us?

Do you realize how much an iPhone would cost if it were manufactured here in the U.S.? It would be so expensive that there would be no global market for them. Unless Trump is willing to address the REASONS why Apple and so many others have moved their productions overseas and how to make the U.S. more business friendly giving corporations incentives to stay here then he is just playing the populism card. Trump also supports corporate welfare, the very subsidies that cause costs in products to go up and taxpayers then forced to pay for their government handouts . That's how Trump made his billions is through tax breaks and government subsidies by greasing the hands of politicians.
Donald Trump: Developer has thrived with government's generosity - latimes
On the campaign trail he has been in full support of the ethanol subsidies which has proved to have drove the cost of food up 15-20%.

The next time he touts his business creds someone needs to call him what he is, a corporate welfare recipient real estate mogul.

 

[JasperL]

Not a level playing field? Cry me a river. And how so?

You've never seen a picture of China on a normal day? They're killing their citizens with pollution, which is a pretty extreme way to socialize costs, privatize profits. We can't do that here, or not as much at least.

 

[fmw]

Umm, what? The EU has got a bigger trading block than us and if the Chinese join in an alliance with them against us we're screwed. The only thing keeping us ahead of the game right now is that the US dollar is the reserve currency of the world but if we start putting up tariffs thats going to change real fast.

So we disagree.

 

[Reformedfindlay]

You've never seen a picture of China on a normal day? They're killing their citizens with pollution, which is a pretty extreme way to socialize costs, privatize profits. We can't do that here, or not as much at least.

Thats called competitive advantage, and theres nothing wrong with that.

Let them kill their own people. We can focus on securing higher value, higher pay jobs.

 

[fmw]

Do you realize how much an iPhone would cost if it were manufactured here in the U.S.?

As much as people will pay for it. I would be amazed if the production cost of an iphone is even $50. In those quantities, with automated production in the U.S. might cost $75. The problem is that such a production facility doesn't exist here because we gave up manufacturing electronics a long time ago. let's get past the fear and do what's best for America, not what is best for our personal purchases. Let's start bringing production and jobs back home.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

I don't think that was a hint - it had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer blow to the face.



In a variety of ways, targeting especially those who do business overseas.



Just as in "only"? No, Bernie is raising taxes on everyone, including you and me.

However, he has a special place in his heart for US businesses that manufacture overseas, which is why he wants to tax them on their foreign profits whether or not they repatriate them, take away their ability to use deductions such as interest-on-debt for US taxes, and double-tax by not allowing them to deduct taxes already paid abroad (he's also trying to ban some methods of moving ones' headquarters overseas - just because we're going to tax and regulate the snot out of you here doesn't mean you get to escape).



It won't work if the goal is to produce economic growth. It will work if the goal is to be popular. Both Trump and Sanders are riding high on the "dirty foreigners are terkin er jerbs" platform, and it seems to be succeeding.

Again, I haven't followed Sanders at all, so I'm winging it here.

But taxing a corps overseas profits is quite different than putting a 35% tax on all imported products.

Slap a 35% tax on all imported goods from China will piss the Chinese off big time and cause a trade war. Upping the tax on overseas profits of American Companies? No one besides those companies will care. Is it a great idea? I doubt it, but it wouldn't cause the damage of a 35% tax on every product made overseas.

 

[cpwill]

Again, I haven't followed Sanders at all, so I'm winging it here.

But taxing a corps overseas profits is quite different than putting a 35% tax on all imported products.

Slap a 35% tax on all imported goods from China will piss the Chinese off big time and cause a trade war. Upping the tax on overseas profits of American Companies? No one besides those companies will care. Is it a great idea? I doubt it, but it wouldn't cause the damage of a 35% tax on every product made overseas.

Bernie supports higher Tariffs, supports punishing companies that go overseas, and opposes any reduction in trade barriers. I feel pretty confident in stating that it is unlikely he and Trump are significantly different on this issue.

 

[vesper]

As much as people will pay for it. I would be amazed if the production cost of an iphone is even $50. In those quantities, with automated production in the U.S. might cost $75. The problem is that such a production facility doesn't exist here because we gave up manufacturing electronics a long time ago. let's get past the fear and do what's best for America, not what is best for our personal purchases. Let's start bringing production and jobs back home.

I'm all for bringing production back to the U.S. but until you end the subsidies, tax breaks for the few and stop allowing government to pick winners and losers it isn't going to happen.
Until the corporate tax rate which is the highest in the world is lowered, it isn't going to happen.
Until someone ends the flood of regulations which are hidden taxes, on businesses, it isn't going to happen.
Until state and federal governments stop using businesses as their go to means to raise taxes to generate more revenue to pay for their feckless spending it isn't going to happen.

If Trump was serious about bringing jobs back to this country he wouldn't be supporting subsidies and other things he has supported in the last couple of years like Obamacare, raising taxes on those who invest to create jobs which all things hinder job growth.

 

[JasperL]

Thats called competitive advantage, and theres nothing wrong with that.

It's also called an uneven playing field, and if you think there's nothing wrong with socializing costs and privatizing profits, then you'd make a good little Chamber of Commerce drone - it's aka crony capitalism.

Let them kill their own people. We can focus on securing higher value, higher pay jobs.

That's the chorus line to all "free trade" arguments but can you tell me where it's happening? Iphones are low skill products?

 

[fmw]

I'm all for bringing production back to the U.S. but until you end the subsidies, tax breaks for the few and stop allowing government to pick winners and losers it isn't going to happen.
Until the corporate tax rate which is the highest in the world is lowered, it isn't going to happen.
Until someone ends the flood of regulations which are hidden taxes, on businesses, it isn't going to happen.
Until state and federal governments stop using businesses as their go to means to raise taxes to generate more revenue to pay for their feckless spending it isn't going to happen.

If Trump was serious about bringing jobs back to this country he wouldn't be supporting subsidies and other things he has supported in the last couple of years like Obamacare, raising taxes on those who invest to create jobs which all things hinder job growth.

You make an assumption that I support government subsidies and high business taxes. I don't. Reducing the business tax rates will probably repatriate some money, but I don't see how it would repatriate any jobs. Helping businesses produce more profitable business with U.S. production than with offshore production is what will make it happen.

 

[Carjosse]

Are you saying they don't study macroeconomics at Wharton?

Also, how is a lawyer (Cruz, Clinton) more qualified in macroeconomics than a business mogul?

If it like my business they have one first year class and that is about it. Business focuses a lot more on microeconomics because it has a much larger application in business. Macroeconomics is used by economists and Cruz and Clinton would probably have economic advisers well versed in macroeconomics.