Biden on Tariffs: I Think It Will Cause a Lot of US Businesses to Go Bankrupt

Biden on Tariffs: I Think It Will Cause a Lot of US Businesses to Go Bankrupt

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Janet Ybarra
Democrat
Former Washington Journalist
Contributor on The Bipartisan Press

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Donald Trump’s increasing trade war with China will hurt US business more than it hurts the Chinese government, according to Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden.

Trump announced a 10-percent tariff on essentially all consumer goods imported from China on top of the existing 25-percent tariffs already on industrial gear. Those new tariffs will go into effect next month.

“So what does this mean? Every single thing that China sells to America will be taxed. Every toy, every piece of clothing, every bag of tea, every drop of oil, every pound of aluminum, every chemical, railcar, cell phone, electronics. Everything taxed. And you’ll pay it,” explained Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. “First the importers will pay it, then the distributors will pay it, then the stores will pay it, then they will pass it to you. The buck stops with you. You pay. That’s how this works. Always. It’s a new tax on things you buy and the president says it starts next month.


“And big picture: if you and everyone else is paying more for stuff, over time you will have to buy less of stuff, and that hurts the economy here and everywhere else. That’s what trade wars do,” Shepard added.

However, Biden said there are segments of the US economy–particularly in agriculture equipment– which will be very hard-hit.

“I think they are causing a lot more than little financial pain. I think it will cause a lot of people to go bankrupt,” said the former vice president, who is leading a field of some two dozen Democrats running for president. “I think it will cause an awful lot of ancillary industries like the industries that make tractors and all the farm equipment. They will be in real trouble.

“We are focusing on the wrong thing with China. I plan on and I’ve argued that we should be very tough with China,” Biden added. “China is stealing our intellectual property. China is stealing industries from us. And unless we, in fact, are able to unite the world in taking on China, they will set the rules of the road. They will be in the position. What we are doing now is going about it the wrong way. China is a problem. They are a security problem. They are a technology problem. They are investing more money, for example, in research and development then we are, because they are stealing an awful lot of our intellectual property.”



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