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The Chinese Tire Tariff: WWLS?
What would Les say? Les Schwab, born poor in Bend, used borrowed money to buy a dilapidated shack of a tire store in Prineville
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what happened to les schwabbs cheap tires and quality service maybe their business is also suffering because other people offer cheaper tires and better service.
HBM writes: ” The premise that American manufacturers aren't willing to make low-priced tires seems a little shaky too. If the Chinese imports haven't hurt them, why are they closing their factories and laying off their workers? Wouldn't they rather sell cheap tires than no tires?”
Although you bring up many fine points, the reality is that this is a political decision. It is just another example of BO’s payback to organized labor and no different from BO’s shafting of the bond holders at Chrylser in favor of the union. These senior bond holders, many of them pensioners or pensioners who invested in funds that in turn invested in the bonds, saw not only the income from their bonds cut-off, but also lost their original investment as well eventhough it had a senior collateral position to that of any union/workforce claim. How’s that “hope and change” working for them?
BO has no problem re-writing bankruptcy law and when investors can not count upon the law to govern their investing, they stop investing. The next union payback by BO will be Card Check which even you, HBM, must agree is an “Obomination.”
Miller is completely wrong. But then he is taking the liberal pro-union stance that is helping ruin this country. Economists on both the left and right urged Obama not to impose the tariffs but Obama who is beholden to the Unions had no choice. Either support the tariffs or lose the union support for the next election. This was nothing more than political payback.
Les Schwab Tires has, among others, Japanese tire makers to thank for the company’s success. When Les S. himself was first running the company, no one else — including the pathetic American tiremakers who wanted to control dealer prices — would sell tires to the young whippersnapper upstart. Now that the bullies (okay, maybe they only USED to be bullies) have their way with trade restrictions on the Chinese, they’ll work with independent dealers? Ha!
My first question: Have you ever run any business? My second question: Who do you think buys these tires? Ultimately iit is the consumer, who will pay more for them. Shades of Smoot-Halley.
Here are a couple of good articles on the topic. Seems to me that anything done out of Washington lately has been designed to have a negative effect on the US.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125283952859406521.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9igRzOC55wE
So Obama is forcing the american consumer to spend more money during this “recesion” because the U.S. tire companies dont want to make cheaper tires is what im understanding. Isnt that STRONG ARMING like what the mafia does? Isnt that agaist the law? It’s not helping americans or anyone in the long run, just costing us more money. Sounds like Obama is in with american tire companies or getting paid off to help them. I say the U.S. tire companies need to make cheaper tires and quit being so greedy otherwise its their fault for going bankrupt or loosing buisiness!
Yeah! I agree! What’s with these GREEDY American tire makers? Can’t they take a page from the Chinese tire makers and, ya know, pay their employees a dollar for every 15 hour work day? Just another example of greedy, selfish, lazy Americans. God, I hate this country.
Teddy please feel free to leave whenever you feel like it. You must be a joy to be around.
“It’s not helping americans or anyone in the long run, just costing us more money.”
Don’t you think it helps Americans in the long run (and the short run) to have jobs? Where do you think this country will end up if we keep sending all our jobs to China, India, Mexico, Thailand, Bangladesh and God knows where else?
And if you say the answer is for Americans to work for lower wages, remember that when everybody earns Third World wages you have a Third World country. Is that the kind of place where you want to live and where you want your children and grandchildren to grow up? Does saving a few dollars on a tire mean that much to you?
“My first question: Have you ever run any business?”
I ran my own public relations business for about 10 years. Before that I was managing editor of The Bulletin, in charge of a newsroom with a budget of nearly $1 million and about 30 employees.
“My second question: Who do you think buys these tires? Ultimately iit is the consumer, who will pay more for them.”
My question is why conservatives can never understand the connection between low prices (for cheap imported shit from China) and low wages for Americans, including in many cases themselves. You think it’s pure coincidence that globalization (which all the “experts” promised would bring prosperity for everybody, remember?) has been accompanied by a decline in real (inflation-adjusted) incomes for American workers?
You know what else? This is purely anecdotal, but I notice that most American-made products (when you can find them) are not any more expensive than their Chinese-made counterparts. So who do you suppose is reaping the benefit of the lower Chinese labor costs? (Hint: It isn’t the American consumer.)
H. Bruce Miller AND Ted Ronson
Not once did i say for the american working class to take a pay cut or get less pay in any way. What i said was that the GREEDY companies need to stop thinking that they should get more money for their product when they are made of the same product that the cheeper tires are from. Just because its made in america does not mean its worth more just because our government wants to charge a tax for getting the ingredents to make something in the U.S. OH thats right we grow rubber trees(I know ther not made that way anymore) and have everything here in the states to make everything on the market. I FORGOT HMMMM Think of that next time you go to wally world
Oh by the way who made your TIRES on your car????
“Although you bring up many fine points, the reality is that this is a political decision.”
Now what this commenter REALLY means is, “Screw the American worker, if Obama did it, it’s bad.”
By the way, I just bought a new Dunlop for my American-made motorcycle, specifically because it was MADE in Buffalo, NY.
“Although you bring up many fine points, the reality is that this is a political decision” says one poster. Yeah. Screw the American worker, if Obama did it, I oppose it.
Time to bring back the old bumper sticker: “Buy American – while you still can!”
And yes, I specifically bought a new tire for my AMERICAN motorcycle because it was made in Buffalo, New York (besides being a good tire).
By the way – Smoot and Hawley were both REPUBLICANS.
Just so you know.