Trump And His 2 Simple Rules: Buy American And Hire American
[guest post by Dana]
During a victory rally in Iowa yesterday:
“My administration will follow two simple rules: Buy American and hire American,” Trump said. “Remember years ago, we used to proudly display ‘Made in the USA.’ You’d go get a car, right? And you’d have it say, Made in the USA. We don’t see it. Have you seen it? I don’t see it anymore. We ought to start doing that.”
Selling his name to the highest bidder to have his brand produced somewhere other than America, and by workers not American.
–Dana
It’s not as if other companies aren’t looking to have an increased profit margin as well. A number of things that are concerning in the linked article. But I don’t know, are we still at the “Hey, it’s just a rally, he doesn’t really mean what he says…” point??
Dana (d17a61) — 12/9/2016 @ 8:12 pmAre there any other clothiers of note who are American, one has to struggle as for fixtures try to found one
narciso (d1f714) — 12/9/2016 @ 8:18 pmYes, this is just a little embarrassing that his signature collection is made outside the USA.
The same way Pat Buchanan was discovered to be driving a Mercedes during his conservative/populist uprising of 1992 when he was asking Americans to “Buy American.”
Trump should pivot by saying, “I’d like to have my own signature collection manufactured here in the USA, but there are so many regulations and taxes which make it too expensive to do so. So let’s work to change the regulations and taxes.”
He’s going to have to find a way to have his signature collection manufactured stateside. It’s bad optics for him to chastise other corporations and businesses for seeking to maximize profit margins vis a vis production costs when he’s doing the very same thing.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/9/2016 @ 8:24 pmCruz Supporter,
It’s far more than a matter of bad optics. It’s rank hypocrisy. He is our next president and he is telling businesses how *not* to run their businesses while he does whatever benefits him and his bottom line.
First, he says one thing and does another. So while he is tone-deaf and clueless, its worse because he sees himself as above reproach, and the exception. This reeks of elitism, and worse.
Dana (d17a61) — 12/9/2016 @ 8:41 pmi love the american products
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/9/2016 @ 8:45 pmLook for,
the union label,
on your sneakers,
high heels,
or your kicks.
Just the one stanza, because that first one is going to take a heck of a lot of your free time.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:05 pmI personally think foreign trade is good. Trump used to know that but lately he forgot. Rather than waste time with pointing and sputtering at “hypocrisy”, I’d rather encourage him to remember what he used to know not very long ago. “There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
I am very tired of the “this person is acting against some principle that is only important to them” game. Foreign trade is good. Wish Trump would say so.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:13 pm#4 Dana, I’m not seeing where we disagree.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:17 pmChina has fewer regulations and taxes than the United States? In which alternate universe? Harry Turtledove’s or S.M. Stirling’s? Philip K. Dick’s maybe?
What China has is government-owned factories and subsistence-wage labor. Which subsistence wage is set by the government.
nk (dbc370) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:22 pm@nk:China has fewer regulations and taxes than the United States?
No one was saying so. Not one person here said this.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:26 pmTrump should pivot by saying, “I’d like to have my own signature collection manufactured here in the USA, but there are so many regulations and taxes which make it too expensive to do so. So let’s work to change the regulations and taxes.”
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/9/2016 @ 8:24 pm
nk (dbc370) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:30 pm“Hecho a Mano en China”
SPQR (a3a747) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:34 pmChina has fewer externalities, like food for their workers.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:46 pmWell they follow their version of primitive accumulation, because that is the only model of capitalism they know, no labor or environmental rules.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/9/2016 @ 9:50 pmMister Lee explains saving money on Chinese externalities [YouTube]
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/9/2016 @ 10:00 pmAre you criticizing Trump? I’m so tired of that please try to keep things in perspective hello Hillary would have been worse
Patterico (115b1f) — 12/9/2016 @ 11:02 pmWhat do you expect Trump to do make his stuff in the US
Patterico (115b1f) — 12/9/2016 @ 11:02 pm“It’s as though everyone was keeping a vigil by the deathbed of someone who had been shot and was dying.
That someone was the GOP. They were hearing the death rattle in the throat and were waiting for the final moment, heads bowed. Some had tears streaming down their cheeks. Some were secretly (or maybe not so secretly) happy, because they felt that the person on the bed had wronged them terribly. But all knew it was very near the end.
And then suddenly the person jumped up. Not just jumped up, but started tap dancing and chuckling.”
http://neoneocon.com/2016/12/09/changing-places-left-and-right/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/9/2016 @ 11:54 pm@Patterico:Are you criticizing Trump?
I am praising Trump for doing what he did right–getting his stuff made abroad so it’s more affordable for Americans–and criticizing him for what he did wrong–which is speaking against it.
What I am not doing, is criticizing Trump for doing the thing I think he should do.
The Donald J. Trump Signature Collection is not, you may have noticed, upmarket. It’s found at places like Walmart. Where people who don’t have a lot of money shop. By having those clothes made overseas he did poor people a favor. That’s why trade is good.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 6:32 amOh, and besides making affordable clothes for poor people, he also made some profits and put some change in his pocket.
Also good.
His speaking against that is bad. Bad, bad Trump. It got him elected, unfortunately, because people in general don’t believe trade is good or that profiting from offshored manufacturing is good. Those people are wrong, but they are the majority of the electorate and it will take years to teach them differently, if it can even be done.
And so to say “look how bad Donald is for not making stuff in the US” panders to those wrong people who think trade is bad, for the sake of scoring tiny meaningless debating points before the man has even been elected. It will make it harder to teach people trade is not bad for them.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 6:37 amAnd I guess the last point is that Trump didn’t even make those clothes, or have them made, because all he did was license his name. Remember all that talk we had about how is business empire is fake and he’s only licensing his name?
But if he had been responsible for making the clothes, making them overseas and hence more affordably was a good and praiseworthy thing to do.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 6:43 am#9 nk, I’m not sure I’m following you. I said we have so many regulations and taxes in America that make it very expensive to manufacture clothing here. I never said China has fewer regulations and taxes. I was merely saying that the production cost is cheaper in China — it is, isn’t it?
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/10/2016 @ 8:30 amI use conversation about Hillary for perspective.
In this instance I’ll not talk about her
Gabriel makes the point that these garments are made under license. I’d like to add that we have no idea what the terms of that agreement are. We also don’t know the terms of any manufacturing agreement the licensee has with the shops in Mexico and China.
It is likely that at this point in time, Trump has no ability to require his licensee to make these items in America.
And why stop with garments. I am positive that every build Trump has built or renovated is filled with foreign made materials.
Everything from electrical outlets to the elevators to the draperies likely have some connection to other countries.
Just like yesterdays topic, that was then, this is now.
The important measure is what Trump does moving forward from here, rather than looking in the rear view mirror.
So far, Trump has done great service to the working men and women of this country by using his friendships and contacts to save and create jobs, but this gets grudging praise at best. Instead we are supposed to grouse about where a tie is made, when we have no idea of what the terms of the deal are.
Maybe Trump can renegotiate his deal with the licensee and get the ties made in the USA after the current manufacturing contract expires.
But there will always be an old tie that has a made in Mexico tag that we can dredge back up up as a prop while we shout “hypocrite”. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the ties etc, because Trump could issue a statement saying that he has directed Trump Inc. to work on renegotiating and bringing these jobs home, but in just a few days he will have zero he can do about it. I don’t think he can even ask how it is going.
I seem to remember that newly elected Presidents used to get a grace period from January inauguration to maybe May-June, and indeed 8 years ago several people here lobbied intensely for Obama to be given a chance.
Trump isn’t even in the White House yet.
This country has way bigger problems than Trumps line of ties (thank God). I’d like to say “focus on the positives, you will be happier” but in this instance I think some folks who normally are pretty upbeat have decided to wallow in a corrosive cynicism for a season.
steveg (5508fb) — 12/10/2016 @ 9:47 amOthers have decided to support, while some others have decided to watch the greatest political show in our lifetime… it is a great time if you enjoy watching people melt down until their head explodes. Trump lives rent free in the head of nearly the entire left, and a good deal of the GOP as well. Pass the spicy trail mix and hit me one of those brown liter bottles of Corona, I’m gonna watch some MSNBC
No, Gabriel. You’re doing it again. That is not what Patterico said or even implied. That is also not what Dana said or even implied. They have both been consistent. “Look what a lying dirtbag crapweasel Donald Trump continues to be, and his sycophants will continue to excuse him for it. Because (R).”
John Hitchcock (0ce85e) — 12/10/2016 @ 9:49 am#24 John Hitchcock, have a cup of eggnog and enjoy the spirit of Christmas.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:08 am@John Hitchcock:“Look what a lying dirtbag crapweasel Donald Trump continues to be, and his sycophants will continue to excuse him for it. Because (R).”
Well, if that’s all they mean, what is the purpose of saying so?
Is it just to vent or is it intended to persuade anyone of anything? If it’s venting, it’s pretty effective at exhibiting their emotional state, but if it’s intended to persuade anyone to do something then I don’t think it is very effective.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:10 am@steveg:Trump isn’t even in the White House yet.
He’s not even President-Elect yet.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:11 amI use the gay marriage analogy a lot because that’s about how popular free trade is.
Both Obama, and Hillary, for years made public statements against both, and so did virtually every elected Democrat. At no point where they abandoned by progressives who were in favor of gay marriage.
At some point, 2012-2013, everyone just turned on a dime and came out for it. Progressives did not, by and large, say “you lying crap weasels I spurn your support for my issue”.
Comes down to whether it is more important to stay pure with your principles, or to compromise them to some extent in order to advance them in society.
With Trump it’s the same. Americans who want protectionism, want immigration laws enforced, do not care that Trump once opposed these things in some way, like hiring illegals (which no one can actually legally refuse to do) or licensing his name to products made offshore. They are not going to say “you lying crap weasel, now that you have power to help me achieve my aims I spurn your support”.
Because they would rather see these things come to pass, than to stay pure.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:18 amhe’s the number one plum lolly and he’s enthusastic about the products we make right here in america for example this popcorn machine
now nevertrump’s gonna be all like popcorn is so stupid and this one time at band camp Mr. Trump was like no thank you I don’t want any popcorn right now
well poop on you
America’s back!
YAY!
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:22 am*enthusiastic* i mean, that’s what he is
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:22 amI agree. Trump has always been and always will be as good as his word. There is no common unit of monetary measure small enough to express the value of his word but it’s definitely worth at least 1/1,000,000th of a cent to someone. Somewhere.
Rick Ballard (764455) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:26 amHillary Clinton was made in America.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:35 amNot everything that’s made in America is all that great. (LOL)
@Rick Ballard: it’s definitely worth at least 1/1,000,000th of a cent
I think betting against his word would reap huge profits more often than not, and for that reason I would value it more than that. For example, if he tells me the check’s in the mail, I know it probably isn’t.
Gabriel Hanna (9b1f4a) — 12/10/2016 @ 10:43 amIf you buy Nike shoes off the shelf at a retailer like Dicks, anything under $100 is made in China from cheaper materials.
If you go on Nikes website and order a $350 pair of soccer shoes, they are shipped to you from Italy.
If you buy a Wilson A2000 baseball glove for under $150, it was made in China from leather obtained in China. If you buy an A2000 model that is more than $300, it as stamped into the leather “Made in USA.”
It’s all about what you want. A poly blend tie for $18? China. A silk tie for $75? US or France.
Shipwreckedcrew (d1767a) — 12/10/2016 @ 11:36 amHeh!!! https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/251628/
Colonel Haiku (987a1a) — 12/12/2016 @ 9:58 am