DescentBB

Well I'm sure this will get a mixed reaction:

"The administration will restrict a number of items that China can ship to the United States: men's and boys cotton and man-made fiber shirts, man-made fiber trousers, man-made fiber knit shirts and blouses and combed cotton yarn that China.

American retailers are concerned that the move will raise the prices of these goods for U.S. consumers.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said Wednesday's decision "demonstrates the administration's continued commitment to America's textile manufacturers and their employees."


http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050518/D8A5QH881.html

So on the one hand we have our govt. doing a laudable job to fight the Chi-coms practice of dumping merchandise on the American market by manipulating the value of the goods, much to the detriment of our American workers. On the other hand, you as a individual will be paying more for clothing. So the question is how much more will this cost the consumer AND how much more are you willing to spend in defense of your fellow workers AND fight the commies at the same time.

Its about time the government is doing SOMETHING about the increase in jobs that are going overseas. Yes, I would be willing to pay an extra cent or dollar because that means my fellow countryment get to stay employed. Now they have to do this with other industries to keep more people employed and it will be better for us all in the long run. But I guess it will be too late by the time they do act on other industries because in another year and a half my neighbor will have to look for a new job because his custom rotor and brake design buisness is going overseas.

Top Wop wrote:Its about time the government is doing SOMETHING about the increase in jobs that are going overseas.

That is actually a fallacy. The US is a net IMPORTER of jobs.

Actually, Dedman, whether we're a net importer of jobs or not has absolutely no bearing on the validity of Top Wop's statement that the number of jobs going overseas is increasing.

You are correct. I guess I pulled the trigger a bit early on that one.

More to the point however, why is it our governmentâ??s job to protect domestic jobs? This is a capitalistic economy/society. If the industries that are losing jobs continue to price them selves out of the domestic labor market, too bad. We live in a very fluid and global business environment today. I believe business to be inherently darwinistic. If industries/companies don't adapt to their changing environment, they are doomed to extinction.

Back when our nation was still at its infancy, they imposed tariffs and taxes on imports that would put the US economy in competition with competitive goods.

And its more than just industries and companies for god's sake. If people dont have a place to work the economy collapses. Having such a capitalistic society does not mean we have to take it in the ass as a nation and have no jobs left because all the industry is gone because we allowed it to happen. Therefore I put responsibility on the government to fix exploitation and loopholes that allow such things to happen like companies moving out and therefore hurting us in the long run.

Let's not get our panties all in a bunch here

Top Wop wrote:If people dont have a place to work the economy collapses.

If people don't have a place to work, it means they're not willing to work for what the market is willing to pay them. That means they either need to make themselves more valuable by acquiring more skills, or be willing to work for less.

... have no jobs left because all the industry is gone ...

Industry won't be all gone. We Americans know how to innovate.

I put responsibility on the government to fix exploitation and loopholes that allow such things to happen like companies moving out and therefore hurting us in the long run.

How is "companies moving out" exploitation or a loophole?

And how does it hurt us in the long run? As long as people in this country remain employed, making people in other countries employed as well helps us in the long run.

There comes a point; however, in which there aren't enough jobs around to support people. Importing from China has only hurt our economy, and we get a bunch of cheaply made junk for the most part. We are also fueling China's economy and wealth as an enemy. Most of the money they get from that stuff is government money.

america shot it's own hemp textile market in the foot in the 1930s - at the whims of the cotton and paperpulp industrys. since it suddenly became illegal to locally grow hemp (you big dummys ), you started importing hemp textiles from china.

1ACE1 wrote:There comes a point; however, in which there aren't enough jobs around to support people.

I think you are missing the point that I and more eloquently Lothar, have independently made. The number of jobs in such an innovative culture as ours is not zero sum. It's not like we will run out of them. There will always be jobs. It's a matter of having the right training and skills to get a job that will support you. You don't even have to wait to find a job. Create one. This is one of the most entrepreneurial countries on the planet.

The problem is that the raw materials on which these jobs are based has to come from somewhere. Unchecked, we could become as dependent on Chinese labor (think semiconductors) as we are on Middle-Eastern oil.

That's really not a question of jobs as much as resources, however.

So why don't we as a country figure out what we are really good at and make other countries dependent on us for that? I know that sounds trite, but in principal it's really that easy.

We are a business country; other countries get paid by us a lot.

Dedman wrote:So why don't we as a country figure out what we are really good at and make other countries dependent on us for that? I know that sounds trite, but in principal it's really that easy.

Services. That's what we're good at. But like I said, without raw materials there's nothing to provide service for.

DCrazy wrote:Services. That's what we're good at. But like I said, without raw materials there's nothing to provide service for.

I am not sure I follow you. What raw materials are you referring to? Can you give me an example?