Tractors and (upcoming) tariffs?

[jyoutz]

I guess American companies may want to bring their manufacturing back to the US instead of Mexico and China who BTW still uses slave labor and child labor.

Have you ever toured the large U.S. manufacturing plants in Mexico? I’ve been to the Ford plant in Chihuahua. Modern, nice, and uniform wearing adults do the assembly. The families live in new corporate communities adjacent to the plants. The BNSF has direct rail from Chihuahua City to the Santa Theresa, NM port of entry for trade purposes. It’s very integrated and not like you’re suggesting. We should be cultivating North American trade with efficient transportation and scaling way back on overseas Asian trade. There is child labor in the agricultural sector in Mexico, just like the U.S. used to have. The Asian countries do have child and slave labor.

 

[jyoutz]

350c, welcome to the discussion!

"Revenge" and "Retribution" have been bandied about freely, the media is quoting the sources. Exactly who is going to be the recipient isn't clear, it could be the "deep state" (whatever that means, but the phrase plays very well to conspiracy theorists), it could be "immigrants" (remember, to the native Americans, we are ALL illegal immigrants, the definition seems to be "anyone who got here after I did"), or whoever displeases the government in power (no matter which one it is), and that is downright scary because there really is no way to know if YOU or I will someday be on the receiving end of that, or why. We're supposed to be a nation of laws, not a nation of vigilantes.

Fraud in Social Security? And in other government programs? Who'da thunk it? I doubt it is pervasive, because it appears they do pay attention to who gets the money and how much. Any time there is a lot of money floating around, there will always be people looking to beat the system and pocket some for themselves. An audit can't hurt, but going in with the idea that the whole thing is rife with fraud is probably incorrect.

I used to teach accounting, and there's something called the Principle of Materiality. If your accountant tells you it took him six hours but he found the dime your books were off, fire him. His labor cost you six times his hourly rate ($50/hr? $75/hr?) so how would you feel about paying $300/$450 to recover a dime?

Same thing - when we are talking trillions of dollars spread out over a bazillion often arcane government programs, there ARE going to be errors, and unfortunately, there is going to be some fraud. I don't like that, but I also don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Drugs . . . this isn't going to be comfortable, but WE are the cause of the illegal drug trade. There's a huge market for drugs here (and to be fair, worldwide), if nobody wanted drugs, bought drugs or used drugs, the cartels would have to find some other way to make money.

If we could find a non-draconian way to significantly reduce demand, the supply would dry up because if nobody wants to buy the product, what's the point of making it?

We might want to look at WHY people buy and use illegal drugs, how they think drug use benefits them (hint- it doesn't), and find or create ways that give them the same (dubious and/or illusory) "benefits" but that don't involve illegal drugs.

Tall order, but we can dream . . .

Best Regards,
Mike/Florida

Well said

 

[wolc123]

Not sure about the tarrifs, but I have been sleeping much better since Election Day, because my fear of going up in a mushroom cloud or of my next tractor needing to be battery powered is much lessened.

 

[jyoutz]

I don't look at the Mexican people as the enemy. But "helping" corrupt Marxist style governments has a very bad track record...... and with China lurking and the Cartels in full blown production of fentanyl, human trafficking, smuggling,etc. how could anyone expect anything but a promotion of the same plan? Those in power will be the ones that reap the benefits of exporting tariff free goods into the US. Maybe we can best put out their fires by helping them dump the cartels?
The need to put out our own fire should come first.... Lets give it a try...... can't be worse than the last four years, and if it is, (which it won't be) you can vote your preferred economical direction back in charge.

add; the media is rounding up fear of Trump including the nay-sayer economic "experts." Most now say (behind the scenes) that tariffs as a negotiation tool will work. They just don't like the players.

Our interests are preserving the western hemisphere, but negotiating with those that share it is not about USA give and Canada and Mexico get....Reciprocal trade along with other negotiated terms will likely be a package deal where both parties will agree to.

I agree totally with your last paragraph. But as I’ve stated in several posts, we currently have integrated industrial facilities across North America. It’s not a matter of the U.S. giving and Mexico getting related to trade. And as I posted yesterday, Mexico buys a very large amount of U.S. exports from many sectors of the economy.

 

[PA-Kubota]

Sad to say, he said tariffs were going on many/all imports and wouldn't effect pricing! Just about all major companies have their products made in China or Mexico... My GMC Yukon has many parts made in Mexico and Canada. Will the ones be happy who voted for him because of his polices? Just have to wait and see the end results! Start checking the "made in..." tags.

 

[5030]

After reading the entire thread and all the whining, all I can say is we need to refrain from buying Chinese goods any way possible. Far as Kubota is concerned, I believe the new administration will cut Japan a deal on import duties like they did the last time. India, not so much and I believe the Japanese easing will pertain to South Korea as well.

I wonder if JD will curtail production in Mexico and come back to the United States.

 

[5030]

The not 'Made in America' content is marked under the hood of my Ford fyi.

 

[jyoutz]

After reading the entire thread and all the whining, all I can say is we need to refrain from buying Chinese goods any way possible. Far as Kubota is concerned, I believe the new administration will cut Japan a deal on import duties like they did the last time. India, not so much and I believe the Japanese easing will pertain to South Korea as well.

I wonder if JD will curtail production in Mexico and come back to the United States.

JD has a long term focus beyond the next 4 years. They also sell an awful lot of green tractors in Mexico. JD and Massey tractors are seen everywhere in agricultural regions where I’ve traveled. I’m sure a lot of the Mexican production is sold in Mexico and further south.

 

[wolc123]

Personally, I consider the US, Mexico and Canada as part of North America and I would prefer to see the tariffs levied only on Countries on other continents.

 

[jyoutz]

Personally, I consider the US, Mexico and Canada as part of North America and I would prefer to see the tariffs levied only on Countries on other continents.

It’s the only feasible way to wean away from China.