A mechanic explains tariffs

[mister_coffee]

Three things people miss about this whole idea of bringing manufacturing jobs back:

1. It is a process that will likely take decades.
2. It will inevitably involve importing expertise and technology and capital from other countries.
3. It will be automated at near Star Trek levels of technology and thus will not create very many jobs.

[Rideback]

'Folks, what you see here in my hand is bearing #3DACF044D-21DR. It might not look like much, but it's the wheel hub assembly for the Toyota Camry. This is the part i've spent most nights working on recently.
This also happens to be one of the last 47 that we have in stock.
This would be a good place for a Trade Policy 101 lesson, so pull up a chair. Lemme teach you something.
Yes, the factory i work at is located right here in South Carolina. (Yay American manufacturing!) But we are not a vertically integrated local operation. We don't own, for example, the iron mines or foundries. All we do here is take the component parts (many of which are produced overseas), clean them up, assemble them into the final parts you see here, and ship them on to the automotive manufacturers.
And this particular part is especially problematic since it contained Chinese components. (Oops!) We've been out of those for a while now (for obvious reasons), so as a stop-gap measure, we'd been substituting a more expensive part from Japan. But as of tonight, we're out of those too, and i have no idea when we'll be getting more. And until then? I have nothing to do.
I can hear the apologists now. "But Harold! Yes, it may suck for you *now*, but long-term, this is a good thing! It'll incentivize your company to produce those components domestically! More American jobs!"
And if you actually believe that, you clearly have no idea how any of this works. The infrastructure to "onshore" that production simply doesn't exist presently. It would take years and millions of dollars to create that capacity, and the company has no incentive to commit to a capital expenditure that massive when the powers that be keep changing our national trade policy on a weekly basis. No, we have little choice at this point but to either shop around for cheaper (and likely lower quality) suppliers or just pay the damn tariff. (And make no mistake: *we're* the ones paying it. Not China or Japan or Mexico.) Which is a cost we *have* to pass along to the automotive manufacturers, who in turn pass it along to you, the consumer, in the form of either more expensive or less reliable cars.
We all lose.
And in the meantime, i have to worry about my job since i'm currently out of things to work on.' Harrold Geddings