Can we say NO to China

[BlueBee]

Doesn’t this just get your goat:   China is imposing up to a 21% tariff on autos shipped from the USA to China.  http://news.yahoo.com/china-gets-revenge-obama-tariff-u-autos-213747820.html

What I can’t figure out is WHY we even trade with China at all.  The Republicans see the Chinese as a future military threat and the Dems see them as economic piranhas that play by their own rules.  Playing capitalism with them is like going to Vegas and expecting to win.  It’s not a fair game when one side has the house rigged. 

We run a trade deficit of over $200 billion a year with COMMUNIST China, why do we do that?
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html.  Why are we trading/supporting an enemy?  What would happen if we simply said we’re not going to trade with them at ALL anymore?  We have plenty of democratic Asian friends to pick up the slack if we simply said NO to China.

[kathyp]

china has done an interesting and strategic thing with their new found wealth.  they have purchased the debt of our country and of the EU.  not all of it, but enough that if they were to dump lots of our bonds onto the market, it would have a pretty disastrous effect.  same with Europe.  they also have purchased hard assets in this country helping to prop up our economy internally.

we hang by a very thin and fraying thread.  the only reason China hasn't yanked on it is that we buy their stuff.  when they believe the benefit of the yank, will outweigh the selling of stuff, they  may well do it.

even if they don't, the thread is so worn that it will give.  it will only take one thing, and probably not a big thing, to push us all over the cliff.  store dried goods!   

[SEEYA]

International relations -  a lot like high stakes poker. China just MADE A BIG RAISE, we can CALL, RAISE, or THROW OUR HAND IN; but we can't quit the game.

We have been through this before; remember, JAPAN. In the Early 60's, (back when I was a snot-nosed kid) the junk toys I got where from Japan. The term "made in Japan" was one of derision. Japan improved their image and their merchandise. America wound up with a HUGE trade deficit. [The Bar Room Wisdom at the time (the 80's ?) was that Japan actually won WW2 (we just didn't realize it until then)]
Japan and China differ:
1) Japan is a democracy and a capitalist
2) Japan was defeated in a war with us, and subsequently rebuilt and FORCED into a Democracy by us.
3) Wasn't willing to " KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS"

IF history repeats it's self: We will have lots of Chinese; factories and stockholders, and lots of Chinese-owned properties scattered across our country.

Forget about going to war with them: A large amount components for our war-machine are 'made in china'!
IS that why the drone landed in IRAN?
 

[AllenF]

Oh, I am sure China is buying a copy of that drone from Iran as we speak.   It could have been Chinese technology that brought the drone down for Iran to start with.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/iran-may-captured-u-stealth-drone-hacking-gps-030447469.html

[BlueBee]

Do you think the Chinese will be able to make them for cheaper than we’ve been paying?

Anybody know how much one of these RQ drones costs us tax payers?

Maybe we should just start buying drones from China too?  Lowest price is always best for America if I'm hearing some of our free trading advocates right.
 

[AllenF]

Oh, I am sure we can buy them cheaper from China.  The same model that North Korea, Russia, and Iran is buying from China in a couple of months.   China can deliver it to us on their new modern aircraft carrier they launched.   We might as well give them the keys to Area 51 and the trillions of dollars we spend there to keep us superior to the rest of the world militarily. 

[kathyp]

Lowest price is always best for America if I'm hearing some of our free trading advocates right.

you are not.

[Scadsobees]

Do you think the Chinese will be able to make them for cheaper than we’ve been paying?

Anybody know how much one of these RQ drones costs us tax payers?

Maybe we should just start buying drones from China too?  Lowest price is always best for America if I'm hearing some of our free trading advocates right.
 

I'm sure if the government bought them from China they'd manage to pay three times as much and give them some loans too...

[BlueBee]

I couldn’t find the $$$$ tab for the RQ drone, but the cost of each MQ done is $30 million according to this:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper.  China could probably make copies out of gold and still be cheaper than 30 million a pop.

Let’s see:  Gold is $1600/oz.  $30 million would buy you 18750 oz.  There are 16 oz in pound.  So $30 million in gold weighs in at 1171 lbs.  Over half a ton of Gold!  Heck with that much material, the Chinese could probably make a half dozen pure gold drones!

[SEEYA]

OOOPPS, A troy ounce is 1/12 of a pound. A couple months ago, when people were saying gold was going to hit $2000 an ounce, there was an economist on NPR ( National Public Radio). He claimed that if you had purchased Gold in 1982(? at the then record High) at $800 an ounce, figuring for inflation Gold would have to be about $2400 an ounce. (Sorry I couldn't remember the exact dates or amounts).

[Scadsobees]

Over half a ton of Gold!  Heck with that much material, the Chinese could probably make a half dozen pure gold drones!

Yeah, but they'd each only be about a foot wingspan and they would fly like lead balloons....