I assume that you are in favour for a rebalancing in services trade too?
What about unfair IP rules due to overwhelming control of international organizations and standards?
What about unfair tax dodging by US multinationals, not paying tax on profits in the corresponding countries by abusing an international tax system made by the US for the US?
It is not that the Euro was not a threat to the dollar, it is simply that the threat was minor then, and that it was plain and simple the right thing to do: renounce to unfair advantages in order to move to a more just world.
The US continues to unfairly abuse the dollar as world currency, and dismissing this fact can be a costly misjudgment: fair for the world, but painful for the US.
[1]http://www.dw.com/en/german-companies-avoid-billions-in-taxe...
Enforced trade, fair trade, it's all the same thing really.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Expedition
[2] https://www.economist.com/special-report/2003/07/10/japanese...
I'm not an anti-capitalist, but I am for protecting your own workers in the face of international shenanigans.
Also, no maternity leave, no paternity leave, no social safety net, no unions, no paid vacations, etc, etc, etc. How did it happen? It's not really that of a mystery, they just had a very long strip-tease on the workers, removing protection piece-by-piece, for the 'job creators'! you may not be anti-capitalist, but capitalism is anti-you. Anyway, I'm an anti-capitalist so that's my point of view.
To be frank, I like seeing the government doing something to protect against unfair trade practices. At the same time, I wish unions would go back to their roots and work to protect workers rather than their current raison d'etre which is to perpetuate itself.
When was the last time Unions demanded their reps push back on unfair trade?
Maybe the US led capitalism needs a rethink.
And blamimg the world for this ideology is quite astounding: the US has pushed for it for over 60 years.
And more: what do you have against 95% of the world"s blue collar workforce?
Nothing. But they are not mine. As they don't care about my blue collar sisters and brothers, nor do I care about theirs.
People think redundant blue collar workers should retrain, get new skills. That's nice. Usually the service jobs don't pay as well and it's naïve to think 50 and 60 yos have the bandwidth to retrain and achieve similar status in a new career.
EU and Japan enforce IP just as much as we do. They may be even be more stringent.
If Trump is successful in this, he has a decent chance at making it possible for blue collar whites and blacks to achieve the potential Bruce Springsteen saw in them.
Well, trade war it is then. And it might not be so easy to win against 95% of the world. Specially seeing how unfairly the US has been acting internationally: trade disputes are minor issues compared to the military and monetary abuses done by the US.
In trade, we've acted too fairly with the other developed nations.
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/09/the-world-b...
And it is quite rich to say "we have reduced military affairs": the EU is suffering a massive migration crisis caused by the lie-based military intervention in Irak over 15 years ago, while the US refuses to take any of those migrants.
Most migrants come from Siria. And little matters which american polititian is to blame for this crisis: the US is mainly responsible, and unfairly does not play any role in mitigating the consequences by taking refugees.
Germany has taken close to 1 million, Turkey 3, Libanon has a 50% population increase. How is the US stepping up to the plate?
Europe contributes to the drug trade in Mexico whose instability leads to illegal crossings into the US. Over the years we’ve taken more millions. We don’t ask the EU to “do its part.”
Since Reagan, maybe before, the blue collar worker of America has seen their government give in and cower in the face of unfair trade saying, "we'll make it up in services" or "your goods will be cheaper". But what good does cheap do you when you have no job and no money? They never saw their lot get better. People wonder why people are now "working poor".
When I was in middle and HS, my bus drivers and janitors (they were not "cleaning engineers" just yet), were able to raise a family with decency. No way that happens now.
As Michael Moore poignantly, albeit ironically, said, finally, someone stood up to the corporations and said, "no more". I'll stop the hemorrhaging. One AFL-CIO in PA, the other day, endorsed a Repub. As an atheist, I have to say, Good God, what happened to the Dems? They sold out the American worker in favor of the multinational, transnational capitalists. If they don't watch out, they will lose labor to Repubs.
[1]Just look at how China manages its advantage in Africa, LatAM, etc. Japan in SEAsia, Russia with Former SU repubs., etc.