Trump can channel Reagan to bring jobs

President Donald J. Trump has racked up an incredible record of achievements despite implacable opposition from the media, Democrats and members of his own party.

An important trade issue demanding President Trump's attention early on in 2018 will allow him to score yet more victories and fulfill his promise to bring jobs back to America.

While China is the Great Offender when it comes to predatory trade practices, it is not alone – South Korea is right up there. And it has been for years.

In 2013, the U.S. International Trade Commission found that South Korean crony conglomerates Samsung and LG were selling washing machines in the U.S. made in South Korea and Mexico at illegally low prices, below the cost of producing them.

Their goal was to grab market share and even drive American appliance makers out of business. This is a tactic John D. Rockefeller used to kill competition to Standard Oil a century ago. In this case, the competition is Whirlpool, and the livelihoods of thousands of manufacturing workers employed by Whirlpool and its suppliers are at stake.

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When the U.S. government slapped a tariff on Samsung and LG imports to make up for the under pricing, the companies moved production from South Korea and Mexico to China in order to evade the tariff. Caught red-handed again, they moved production yet once more to Vietnam and Thailand.

This month, the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended President Trump place a hefty tariff on Samsung and LG washing machines, no matter where in the world they are made.

The usual suspects in the open borders and import lobbies – many of whom were #NeverTrump in the first place – are predicting the end of the world if the president imposes tariffs. But they are wrong again. Surprise.

The truth is, this can be a Ronald Reagan moment for President Trump.

Ronald Reagan understood that true free trade requires everyone to follow the rules. He defended American free enterprise against unfair foreign competitors who were often supported by foreign governments intervening in the marketplace.

Thirty years ago, President Reagan imposed a 100 percent tariff on Japanese-made computers, television sets and power tools to "uphold the principles of free and fair trade." The Japanese were deliberately dumping semiconductor chips on the world market below fair market value and threatened to drive the American chip industry out of business.

While the free-trade fundamentalists and their amen corner in the corporate media said it doesn't matter if the U.S. makes silicon chips or potato chips, Reagan understood a domestic industry producing the semiconductors essential to computers and military electronics was vital to national security.

And in the early 1980s, the Gipper acted to limit imports of Japanese cars. Toyota, Honda and Nissan responded by opening factories in the U.S. Japanese automakers now operate 26 manufacturing plants and 36 R&D facilities in 17 states, and nearly 75 percent of Japanese cars sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S.

President Trump can pull off a repeat performance, Gangnam Style.

Samsung and LG have announced plans to begin manufacturing washing machines in Tennessee and South Carolina.

The U.S. International Trade Commission report says that without the tariffs it recommends, "LG and Samsung would have less of an economic incentive to follow through fully on their planned investments."

With tough action, President Trump can ensure Samsung and LG live up to their promises – and then he can claim two more victories in his drive to deliver jobs for Americans.