The BBC reports, “Mr Trump said US consumers could avoid the tariffs by buying the same products from other sources. ‘Many tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia. That’s why China wants to make a deal so badly!’ he said.” Traitor trump really is that stupid! Apparently, he has no idea how consumers behave or how economics works, despite that he majored in economics at “the best business school.” How exactly does a consumer avoid tariffs (paying more) by purchasing the same product from other sources? First of all, in the vast majority of cases, a consumer has no selection options about where a product is produced on the self of any given store, especially in stores where price competition is a business’ primary strategic competitive advantage (e.g., Walmart). The reason why people shop at Walmart, The Dollar Store, and such places is that products from China are cheaper.
Second, even if a similar product was available from another source then economics dictates that the producer of that other product would also raise their price to match (or just below to slightly undercut competition) like products from China because they can — there is absolutely no economic disadvantage not to do so. This is a finer point of economics that is not really discussed. Artificially forcing the price up (via a tariff) on a product inherently provokes other producers to force up their prices on similar products as well because it is free revenue, so to speak. Consider shirts for example. Many are made in China and many elsewhere like Vietnam, India, or Bangladesh. If tariffs increase the average price of shirts made in China then producers in those other countries would also raise their price because if one needs a new shirt then one needs a new shirt. If consumers are “willing” to pay at most x dollars for a shirt made in China then there is no reason why other producers would not be willing to charge x dollars or local-x dollars as well. The total number of shirts purchased may decrease, but in the short-run the consumer losses all around.
Last, new industries, manufactures, and trade partners don’t pop up overnight. Any correction to a long term China trade war will take years to correct if it persists. Traitor trump is f***ing stupid to think trade wars are easy to win or without consequence, but this is stupid America. We have so many idiots here that maybe we should start exporting them!