On trade, Donald Trump leaves much to be desired within the U.S.
The businessman, who has bankrupted his companies six times, doesn’t support free markets. Instead, he encourages protectionism and apparently plans to start trade wars with China and Mexico.
Trump has suggested ripping up
NAFTA, a major trade agreement that has created over 5 million jobs, as well rejecting the T.P.P., which is a trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries.
He wants to move away from free international trade and implement tariffs on imported goods, such as a 35 percent tax on cars imported from Mexico. Trump believes the global trading system is a colossal failure, hurting our economy and taking jobs away. He is wrong.
The U.S. imports $500 and $300 billion a year from China and Mexico, respectively. Trump says he will slap a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports and 35 percent on non-petroleum Mexican imports. This will increase the overall amounts we pay for imports by 15 percent.
In return, we can expect China and Mexico to slap us right back with tariffs on our exports. That’s no fun because China and Mexico make up one-fourth of all of our exports and in just three years, when some of you are still eating Pit burgers, our exports will have decreased by $85 billion.
As prices soar and access to international markets becomes increasingly tight, small businesses and manufacturers will struggle. As a result, we likely will lose millions of jobs and halt the progression of connecting the global trade we have achieved since World War II. These are real numbers. This is not hyperbole. Trump’s policies on trade would be ineffective, dangerous and about as bad as living in Luter as a post-abroad junior.
Finally, let’s take a look at Trump’s stance on immigration. His plans put a smile on my face. Not the kind of smile you have when sharing a laugh with friends, but the kind of condescending eye-roll-smile you have when someone says something absolutely ludicrous.
Perhaps Trump supporters believe his immigration plan will bring back American jobs, raise wages and ultimately affect the economy so profoundly that the benefits outweigh the costs (i.e., moral condemnation from good-hearted humans across the globe, aliens, the man above, etc.) but that is simply, and thankfully, not the truth.
Trump has said he wants to deport all illegal immigrants — all 11 million who make up over 5 percent of our entire labor force (more than that of North and South Carolina combined).
The American Action Forum estimates that this plan will cost roughly $400 to $600 billion to implement.
Moreover, a large portion of these 11 million jobs will go unfilled because of their demanding manual labor and long hours that often repel American workers.
This phenomenon has been seen before in Arizona where similarly tough immigration policies have been enacted and resulted in lost jobs rather than jobs being snatched back by American citizens.
Industries, such as agriculture, would be devastated by the labor shortages and lead to a reduction in the American work force.
By expelling 11 million undocumented workers from the country in an attempt to create American jobs, Trump will succeed in pummeling industries reliant on labor, which will result in fewer jobs and higher labor costs, driving up food prices, creating inflation and rising interest rates.
In the third and final part of these articles, I will further explain why Trump’s policies are impractical and will never truly be enacted.
