Author: Avery Barrett
On Friday, March 8th, 2019, a letter was delivered to the German government from US ambassadors, warning them against the use of the Chinese technological equipment manufacturer, Huawei.
In a world with an increasing dependency towards technology, why would the US government attempt to restrict and discourage the use of a tech giant from a fast-growing economic powerhouse such as China? For one, the deputy chairwoman of the company, Meng Wanzhou, was recently arrested for defrauding banks and violating business sanctions with Iran. On the other hand, Huawei is state owned. This means, much to a conspiracy theorists pleasure, if countries use this telecommunication service as government infrastructure, the Chinese government could quite easily collect data, and use it to their benefit.
If you have recognized that for the past several months there is something going on regarding trade between China and the United States, but quite frankly have no idea what it is, you are in the majority. I am sure you are wondering just the same as many other Americans: what is the US-China Trade War, and how will it affect me?
As I am sure most informed (at least comically informed) Americans can remember from the videos circulating Twitter and countless SNL skits, Trump has been critical of Chinese trade regulations since before he took office. After further investigation, the Trump administration decided to impose tariffs on Chinese products, in attempts of forcing the price of Chinese imports and the demand for American products to soar. The shot heard ‘round the world for this economic war was set off. Since then, new tariffs have been imposed, and the US and China are attempting a compromise to end this feud.
These tariffs will, of course, raise the prices in everyday items. If you look at the tag of your clothing, on the bottom of your hydro flask, on the back of your iPhone or on most other items, you will see “Made in China.” While not all of these products will have additional tariffs, it will increase the prices of lots of them. The trade wars in China will have an increased impact on the prices of gas and normal everyday goods, but the largest impact will be felt by agricultural workers. For the members of Mendocino County, this might be an issue.
Mendocino County is incredibly agricultural based. China is choosing to seek agricultural trade for common products from outside of the US, such as soybeans and corn. This forces US farmers to lose money since their predicted imports will be unpurchased. 90 percent of all wine exports to China are from California. The tariffs could cause turmoil in that many of the wine exports from wine country could be left unused, in addition to increased tariffs within Chinese borders. While this will affect the average individual, the agricultural industry will feel the hardest blow from the political stalemate that is currently the Trade Wars.
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