U.S. government undercuts Chinese manufacturers

Editor's note: Joe Johnson is editor-in-chief of Business Reform Magazine, the leading Christian business magazine with over 100,000 readers. Each issue features practical advice on operating successfully in business while glorifying God.

The Associated Press last week reported that the U.S. Commerce Department just slapped Chinese furniture importers with a tariff that could amount to 198 percent. Acting on complaints from American furniture manufacturers and unions that Chinese importers were selling products below cost in order to undermine American manufacturers, The Commerce Department set the tariff process in motion last week and it is expected that it will take hold in December.

Last year the United States set a record high trade deficit with China, which according to a Forbes report today, totals a whopping $124 billion. This tariff, it seems, is the first step in an attempt to trim that deficit and to give U.S. manufacturers an edge in the American market.

What is most disturbing about this situation is how ridiculous it is. The basic argument put forth by American manufacturers amounts to the following: "We are not making money, we're losing jobs left and right, all because those darned Chinese are (gasp) selling their products below cost and pushing us out of our rightful market share." And what is more ridiculous is that our government is listening to such gibberish.

American manufacturers are accusing the Chinese importers of "dumping" their furniture into our market and profiting from it (even though it is hard to imagine how they could possibly be "profiting" from selling below their production costs). The accusations also point to the fact that the Chinese furniture is poor quality and can't stand up to their American-made counterparts.

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The solution to such complaints does not lie with taxation. If the quality of furniture imported from China is poor, then buyers will soon discover that they should've seen the low cost products not as a good deal but instead as a bad investment. And if the low cost furniture works just as well as the American made "high quality" furniture, then instead of complaining that they are being outsold in their "own" market, perhaps domestic manufacturers should reappraise how their furniture is made.

Our government shouldn't be involved with the market. This example of their intrusion is just another in a long line of absurd attempts to enslave our market and appease the lazy. If Chinese furniture manufacturers have figured out how to make furniture at a very low cost and they are able to sell it here and make a profit, then they should be applauded, not taxed. It's time for America to quit whining and instead start working hard to catch up.

To read Joe's article in the current issue of Business Reform Magazine, click here .