Minister Of Commerce On Higher Import Tariff

The book Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli is about the journey of a plain cotton shirt internationally through the economy. This book consists of a plain, cheap t-shirt bought at Wal-Mart, is split into four important parts. The first part is about the source of the t-shirt: cotton. The second part is about the creation process the t-shirt goes through while being created in China. The third part is consists of explaining what happens after the t-shirt goes to the United States and faces the American protectionist policies. Lastly, the fourth essential part of this t-shirt is what happens to the shirt when it is finished in America (or other developed nations).

2a. Consumers would certainly see a hike in prices on the imported product and in turn could affect the consumer’s ability to afford neither the domestic made clothing nor foreign made clothing.

increased employment would help reduce the use of food banks and improve the quality of life

In modern economic policy of nations and states, the tariffs a tool to tax goods and services being imported. The principal desired outcome for this tool is to create security for the domestic industry from the imported product, which may be cheaper for consumers to purchase. (McEachern, 2015)

With the instability of the political and economic climates, future trade policies may negatively impact the industry. Potential barriers to trade could result in an increase in costs for department stores. Typically, this increase will be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices for the same products.

If the government enacted a special tax on imported clothing making the selling price equal to the selling price of clothing made in the United States, shoppers would see imported items with much higher prices in discount stores. If the prices of clothing made in sweatshops and in the United States were comparative, shoppers would consider the trade-offs and opt to buy clothing made in the United States for higher quality, loyalty to United States workers, and the health of our economy (Mankiw, 2011, p. 4). Wal-Mart and “big-box” stores that sell so many imported clothing items would see a decrease in sales. Shoppers would choose to buy clothing at stores that sell clothing made in the United States. These stores would see an increase in sales.

Rivoli greatly emphasizes the ridiculousness of the regulations, tariffs, quotas and other restrictions that have been put into law to protect the textile

The relevance of this book can be measured by its ability to speak to the everyday individual, who may or may not know anything about economics, and plant the seed toward global economic education. It provides a keen social awareness to people who may or may not ordinarily care about international economics and can have an eye-opening effect toward what really happens in the textile industry.

Lululemon’s ability to source profitably merchandise may be affected; if new trade restrictions are imposed by The United States and other countries where products are produced or sold. These may include additional quotas, duties, tariffs, or other restrictions or regulation. Moreover, China increased in labor cost and other factors associated with production could increase the cost of product. (“Lululemon Athletica Annual Report, 2012”).

Although the Chinese apparel manufacturers would lose profitability due to rising cotton prices and competition from emerging countries, they stand to gain the most from the removal of U.S. quotas and tariffs. According to the author, in 2007, 95% of the 20 billion garments Americans made were purchased overseas. Due to U.S. trade barriers, China’s share of the U.S. apparel import was only 30%. Once these barriers were removed, Chinese apparel would flood the American market due to their low cost and dominance in garment manufacturing. Experts predict that China could eventually supply 85% of U.S. apparel. As they increase their market share in the

I think it also works to undo the notions that China was stealing away all our jobs in the apparel arena, because despite the complex protectionist measures taken, America still lost lots of jobs in the textile industry. The author points out that this is because of technology, and that when it really comes down to it, China is losing their textile jobs at a rate faster than the U.S. did (142). She also goes over some of the unintended consequences of the measures such as increased material costs as a result of the increased import barrier (142). She also suggests in this section as an alternative to erecting trade barriers, to instead compensate workers of the losing industries, known as the compensation principle (151). Lastly, with the lift of the measures and quotas by 2005, there will be a new surge in Chinese goods to America, as illustrated in figure 9.1, page 167. China’s percent increase after release from the quotas will measure some 900%.

The country can maximize their wealth by putting the resources in the most competitive industries. Government created comparative advantage rather than free trade because now easier moves the production processes and the machines into countries that can produce more goods (Yeager & Tuereck, 1984). However, many countries now move to new trade theory suggests the ability firms to limit the number of competitors associated with economic scale (reduction of costs with a large scale of output) (Krugman, 1992). The comparative advantage occurs when two-way trade in identical products, it will useful where economic scale is important, but it will create problem with this model. As a result, government must intervene in international trade for protection to domestic firms (Krugman, 1990)

Economic policy of nations and states, tariffs are tools used to control the flow of goods, services and resources being brought into the country. The overall purpose is to create security for the domestic industry from the imported product. These products can sometimes be less expensive to purchase than the goods being manufactured in the local economy. (McEachern, 2015) The government does this either stimulate or deflate trade with other countries. (Fontinelle, 2012)

Free trade has long be seen by economists as being essential in promoting effective use of natural resources, employment, reduction of poverty and diversity of products for consumers. But the concept of free trade has had many barriers to over come. Including government practices by developed countries, under public and corporate pressures, to protect domestic firms from cheap foreign products. But as history has shown us time and time again is that protectionist measures imposed by governments has almost always had negative effects on the local and world economies. These protectionist measures also hurt developing countries trying to inter into the international trade markets.

Government intervention in the trade process may be either economic or noneconomic in nature. [See Table 7.1.]