Shouldn't America stop importing goods from Asian countries and start producing our own goods?

Question

I think we are just supporting them instead of ourselves.

Answer 1

America doesn' t know how to make those goods anymore. For example, Toyota will be number one auto manufacturer next year leaving General Motors to the dust. If there was no Bangladesh, China, and India, Americans would be running around either half naked or gwtting by with one tenth the number of clothes in their closets.

Actually, the the interesting topic that you have raised in this forum is not easy to discuss in this space; to fully understand this, one needs two semesters of college level class in economics.

Answer 2

Do you have an XBOX 360 and a huge plasma TV in your living room? Do you carry around a super light notebook and the latest handphone? Are you able to afford all these on an annual income of USD30,000?

If the answer is yes, then you really have cheap 'made in china/india/korea' products to thank.

If we paid american workers to produce these goods, the items would probably cost up to 2 or 3 times as much because Americans expect to be paid a lot higher than a Chinese dude in China.

It has nothing to do with global alliance and friendship. We are not supporting them in the way that we might support a charity case. Thinking like that belies our ignorance and arrogance. The fact is that they have something we want (and cannot produce) - goods at low prices.

Would I want the trade deficit to be reduced if that meant sacrificing my current standards of living? I have a feeling that the answer is 'no'

Answer 3

I wouldn't disagree with you, however, the american consumer wants to pay the cheapest price for everything. We import from asian countries because thier economies are such that thier workers get paid a fraction of what our minimum wage is. The fact is that over the last 50+ years, our unions and employees have priced our goods out of the market. American workers make more in a week then some asian families need to live on for a month. These higher salaries lead to higher prices of goods. When you go shopping, would you pay twice the price for "American Made" products?

Answer 4

That's quite ideological of you; however putting that into practice will cause the collapse of the American economy. Can you afford paying premium prices for everything? No more wal-mart, no more competition from stores (meaning they can then choose what time they open and how they choose their pricing). Let's not forget American workers are expensive to hire for simple work and that consumers will have to bear the brunt of it. If you're willing to give up your luxuries so that America can have more production operators and less of a service orientated economy, then you're aiming for second world standards...you cannot turn back the way things are going. Also, every developed nation, not just America is going through this. Selfishness will not bring about a positive change.

Answer 5

You do realize we live on the same planet with several other countries, and that we can't just isolate ourselves from others, right?

And what's wrong with helping out other countries through the world economy? What if they have goods we are unable to create or maintain ourselves? Climates vary. Technology varies. The idea is to exchange goods and services with others who are different from ourselves for the sake of understanding and cooperation.

Answer 6

No. Repeat after me: We only import goods inasmuch as it makes us richer to do so. This is a simple fact that has been well understood by mainstream Economics for 200+ years, but a lot of people seem not to have got the word. Of course one could open one's eyes and note we are far wealthier than our import partners or than our grandparents were, but I guess that's too much to ask.

It's as if in Physics people plowed ahead in total disregard to what Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein figured out, and they still thought things can go faster than light or that cannonballs fall faster than feathers in a vacuum. Imagine the frustration for Econ geeks.

Answer 7

No and Yes,

No because if we stop they will stop being our allies if we were in a war or such. But yes because the United States will stop losing money from importing goods and start gaining money from more countries wanting to import the United States goods into there country. So basically theres Pros and Cons for each outcome.

Answer 8

No, I already pay to much besides Asian children need jobs to.

Answer 9

You can't force companies to stay in the US and with the escalating taxes and fines and penalties that are placed upon these companies it is easier for them to go overseas...can't say I agree with it but I can understand it.

Answer 10

It would be better if U.S. companies paid outsourced workers a fair wage--one comparable to U.S. minimum wage.

Not only would that benefit the foreign workers, it would help prevent further outsourcing, because the companies couldn't benefit by underpaying non-Americans.