4 ms·

On one hand, you have a sclerotic political establishment that at best hasn't figured out that the '90s free trade playbook doesn't work on China and at worst o

by bbanyc 7y ago

On one hand, you have a sclerotic political establishment that at best hasn't figured out that the '90s free trade playbook doesn't work on China and at worst only cares about the WTO for its handy role in policy laundering. On the other hand, you have this ridiculous flailing, which actually makes the establishment look good. There really is no alternative. Makes me want to start drinking. But since tariffs are up on scotch, I'll have a bourbon instead.

sremani 7y ago
Is it wrong to set the table for the upcoming negotiations with UK and EU. If you list the tariffs against US in EU, it is not even a debate who is holding the short end of the stick.
- mads_ravn 7y ago
  Do you have any sources listing total tariffs on each side? I tried searching, but couldn’t find anything.
  - defertoreptar 7y ago
    > The EU imposes a 10 percent tariff on passenger cars, compared with the 2.5 percent U.S. duty on European autos. A study by the CESifo Institute in Germany found unweighted average EU tariffs of 5.2 percent, compared with the U.S. rate of 3.5 percent. “The EU is by no means the paradise for free traders that it likes to think,” Gabriel Felbermayr, director of the think tank’s Center for International Economics, told the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/22/europe-resists-donald-trumps-zero-tariff-trade-off/ https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/22/europe-resist...
    - kbrosnan 7y ago
      The US has a 25% tariff on light trucks and 2d SUVs since 1964. As manufacturers tried different ways to circumvent the US government has closed these loopholes. The most famous is Ford Transit vans were shipped to the US with seats in an exempt configuration. In Baltimore the seats were removed before delivery to dealers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
    - mads_ravn 7y ago
      Thanks for the link. But isn’t it sort of meaningless to talk about unweighted percentages? If either side applies an extremely high tariff for a product that is rarely traded, then it would have a large effect on the unweighted average, but no real effect on trade (though I suppose you could argue that it can affect single sectors in a devastating matter). The best numbers I could find are more comparable, namely total US tariffs of 7.1 billion USD on imports worth 684 billion which approximately equals 1% vs EU tariffs of 5.7 billion USD on imports worth 575 which is also roughly equal to 1% [1,2]. To me that seems pretty fair. However I think the biggest issue (as an EU citizen) is the US insistence on not adhering to EU regulatory regimes, which is what I think made a lot of people oppose the TTIP. Also note that this has not been an issue when negotiating a EU-Japan trade deal. [1] https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/politics/unfree-trade-trump-may-have-a-point-about-eu-tariffs-ifo-says/23581496.html?ticket=ST-21874344-CeOdaGjCT0TJWcvTs9YW-ap3 https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/politics/unfree-trade-tru... [2] https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe...

by bbanyc 7y ago

sremani 7y ago

Is it wrong to set the table for the upcoming negotiations with UK and EU. If you list the tariffs against US in EU, it is not even a debate who is holding the short end of the stick.

mads_ravn 7y ago
Do you have any sources listing total tariffs on each side? I tried searching, but couldn’t find anything.
- defertoreptar 7y ago
  > The EU imposes a 10 percent tariff on passenger cars, compared with the 2.5 percent U.S. duty on European autos. A study by the CESifo Institute in Germany found unweighted average EU tariffs of 5.2 percent, compared with the U.S. rate of 3.5 percent. “The EU is by no means the paradise for free traders that it likes to think,” Gabriel Felbermayr, director of the think tank’s Center for International Economics, told the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/22/europe-resists-donald-trumps-zero-tariff-trade-off/ https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/22/europe-resist...
  - kbrosnan 7y ago
    The US has a 25% tariff on light trucks and 2d SUVs since 1964. As manufacturers tried different ways to circumvent the US government has closed these loopholes. The most famous is Ford Transit vans were shipped to the US with seats in an exempt configuration. In Baltimore the seats were removed before delivery to dealers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
  - mads_ravn 7y ago
    Thanks for the link. But isn’t it sort of meaningless to talk about unweighted percentages? If either side applies an extremely high tariff for a product that is rarely traded, then it would have a large effect on the unweighted average, but no real effect on trade (though I suppose you could argue that it can affect single sectors in a devastating matter). The best numbers I could find are more comparable, namely total US tariffs of 7.1 billion USD on imports worth 684 billion which approximately equals 1% vs EU tariffs of 5.7 billion USD on imports worth 575 which is also roughly equal to 1% [1,2]. To me that seems pretty fair. However I think the biggest issue (as an EU citizen) is the US insistence on not adhering to EU regulatory regimes, which is what I think made a lot of people oppose the TTIP. Also note that this has not been an issue when negotiating a EU-Japan trade deal. [1] https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/politics/unfree-trade-trump-may-have-a-point-about-eu-tariffs-ifo-says/23581496.html?ticket=ST-21874344-CeOdaGjCT0TJWcvTs9YW-ap3 https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/politics/unfree-trade-tru... [2] https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe...