"At that point, the feds were imposing 8,753 different taxes on imports. While the average American tariff was around five percent, some tariffs were in the stratosphere.
The tariff code looked like class warfare at its worst. Mink furs were duty free – but polyester sweaters for babies carried a 34 percent tariff. Lobster was duty free – but infant food preparations carried a 17 percent tariff. Orange juice carried a 40 percent tariff, but fancy French water paid less than 1 percent. Tariffs on cheap shoes were 67 percent. Worst of all, cheap cigars were hit by a tariff three times higher than that levied on premium cigars – stark evidence of the tariff code’s anti-redneck bias."
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This post was very important to see about the tariffs that have been put on necessities that we need. Tariffs are supposed to be a way the government protects consumers but ultimately they can harm us more and lead to a trade war. For example, "the Smoot-Hawley Tariff has been blamed for worsening the Great Depression in the 1930s. In an attempt to strengthen the U.S. economy during the Great Depression, Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which increased tariffs on farm products and manufactured goods (Berstein, 2021]. When we look at more recent times we see that Trump had his own tariffs on washing machines and solar panels. Washing machines would be taxed at "20%, and the subsequently imported…
Ultimately, tariffs do more harm than good based on what I've learned about them. Given this situation, with the radical percentages of tariff prices on items significantly varying in importance, these lapses in logical pricing are precisely why it's such a bad idea. As you mentioned, Professor Bagus, tariffs on minx furs being nonexistent while having 34 percent tariffs on clothing for babies is laughable when you consider this effect on the commonwealth (Baugus, 2021). Furthermore, this isn't feasible for individuals who may not afford such high tariffs on essential items like these but none for non-beneficial things like cigars. Therefore, with the kinds of imbalances that these sorts of comparative prices can offer consumers, the problematic nature of tariffs…
Wow!!! I noticed many things that would normally be regarded as necessities had higher tariffs than things mentioned in the article that most people could live without! I can not understand why the government will/would not step in to control or regulate this and this type of information should absolutely be public knowledge. This is a major topic and concern in politics today as well. Taxing the rich has been one solution that Democrats have recommended to even the playing field. If we relied on economists and financial advisors to recommend fair financials, I believe suitable tariffs and taxes can be agreed upon.
This was a very interesting read. I too would join the class in warfare over these tariffs implemented on goods that are consider necessities. Upon further reading of this article we also see how the government has the power and willingly uses it to lie to its own people for confidentiality. I believe something like the amount of tariffs imposed on imports and exports should be openly available for everyone to see. Upon reading this article it is almost clear to see that America’s government has been infiltrated by the wealthy due to the serval items mentioned in the article that were barley taxed if that. With this finding it also poses the question of what else is our governmen…