Americans stopped making cheap products long ago.This when it became even cheaper to make the products overseas. People can blame policy all they want, but Americans demand and love "cheap."
This is about policy. The
policies of tariffs, but of much more. Policies of the past may have made it easier for small businesses and others to have products assembled and made overseas, and then shipped back to America for sales. I'm sure somewhere it all the policy stuff are tax incentives and tax breaks, and other GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES to keep PRIVATE BUSINESSES going on the cheap with bigger, better profits.
My Headline: Trump Tariffs Expose Reality of Higher Costs, Poor Quality of "Made in America" - Small Businesses know that equals products being more expensive with inferior quality.
"
How Are We Going to Afford This?" U.S. Companies Face Tariff Reality - Higher Costs and Poor Quality when "Made in America"
Business owners told The Times that President Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher costs and expressed frustration at the sudden uncertainty about policy.
The New York Times has heard from nearly 100 companies that import from China about how the president’s tariffs were affecting them. They are a cross-section of striving enterprises stitched into the global economy: companies that make greeting cards, board games, outdoor footwear, hangers, digital picture frames, coffee equipment, toys, stained-glass windows and custom electronics.
Several themes emerged. American businesses, not Chinese suppliers, were shouldering the cost of tariffs. Many companies said they would have to raise prices to offset the expense if they had not already. Some spoke of a feeling of business paralysis: They were afraid to make plans amid the unpredictable stream of new tariffs, fearing the risk of moving production out of China since no country seemed immune.
Turning to domestic alternatives was usually not viable because they were more expensive, the quality was inferior and there were fewer options. Finally, completely reinventing their supply chain would be a huge undertaking for the companies, requiring time and expense they cannot easily spare.
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From her home in Phoenix, Erica Campbell is waiting for a cargo vessel from China to deliver a shipment of thousands of Jesus rattle dolls, tin Easter eggs, religious-themed baby swaddle blankets and 15,000 packages of Jesus Heals bandages.
Ms. Campbell, 36, the owner of
Be a Heart, a Catholic goods business, paid the Chinese factories that manufacture the items months ago. The boxes were loaded in a container before President Trump imposed a new 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports on
Feb. 1. She said she probably avoided paying an additional duty as a result, but she was worried there would be more U.S. tariffs to come.
“I can’t figure out what is going to happen,” Ms. Campbell said. “I am on high alert.”
