Should Congress Interfere with China's Currency Policies? >
Protectionism Could Engender Chinese Retaliation
Imposing a tariff on imports will adversely affect the American economy
October 13, 2011
About Andrew Roth:
Andrew Roth is the Vice President of Government Affairs at Club for Growth. Previously, Mr. Roth was a securities trader for an established broker-dealer in Omaha, Nebraska, and also the owner and publisher for The Iron Fist of Capitalism, a website that analyzed supply-side economics.
If the bill that the Senate approved is passed into law, it will make it easier for our government to place tariffs on Chinese imports.
Whether this legislation is justified because of China's monetary policy is irrelevant. More important are the effects this bill will have on our economy.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]
It seems nonsensical to punish a foreign country by raising taxes on your own citizens, but that's exactly what this bill does. A tariff on Chinese imports will hurt both American consumers and businesses. For consumers, it's a regressive tax that hits low-income and middle-income people the hardest. They are the ones who rely on cheap necessities that allow them to invest and save whatever is left on retirement and their children's education. Businesses will suffer as well. China ships many raw materials and capital equipment that our own businesses buy to make a final product that is priced competitively in the global market. If you raise taxes on them through higher tariffs, you hurt American businesses and the people they employ.
Supporters of this bill must be blind to the near certainty that China will retaliate. China quickly imposed tariffs on American products after we slapped tariffs on imports of steel in 2002 and tires in 2009. Those retaliatory duties did direct harm to our economy.
[Read more about the deficit and national debt.]
When you combine the higher tariffs that we would enact against China, and the retaliatory tariffs that they would impose upon us in response, it's a double whammy to our economy.
Protectionism is bad policy that history has shown time and time again to have a negative effect on the economy. Let's hope cooler heads prevail before it's too late.
- Read: about a Congressional bill aimed at making China raise the value of its currency.
- Browse: the month's best political cartoons.
- View: a slide show of 5 bright spots in the U.S. economy.
- Other Arguments
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#1333109
Yes — China will respond to pressure if the U.S. passes currency bill
SCOTT PAUL, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing
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#2181107
Yes — China's currency policy has cost millions of American jobs
JOSEPH GAGNON, Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics
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#3175193
No — Trade freely with the Chinese regardless of exchange rates
DONALD J. BOUDREAUX, Professor of Economics at George Mason University
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#578181
No — Don't Blame China for U.S. Economic Woes
YUKON HUANG, Senior Associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
