大俠行天下日記 我見我聞我思 06/10

我見 我聞 我思

建材價格暴漲 拜登政府難為

美國全國经濟在疫情好轉後正強勁復甦，從木材、 鋁片、 鋼鐵及晶片價格全面上漲， 也導致拜登政府面臨兩難之窘境。

如果在保持關稅，保護國內就業市場和抑制暴涨之原材料是件不易操作的動作，如果總統立即取消或減少進口關稅，立即會使國內工人失去競爭力，反之物價上漲也嚴重影響經濟成長及通货膨胀。

川普總統在二O一七及二O一八年採取對中國大陸及加拿大等國之加關稅政策，其目的是在保謢國內鋼鐵木材工人的飯碗，但是疫情造成之停工，使得原物料飛漲，因而造成民生物價同時飆漲。

拜登總統正在推動國內基建工作，一方面全面更新鐵路、機場、橋梁、 公路， 但是，高價之原材料將會嚴重影響到基建之預算和品質。

今天我們也非常淸楚疫情對美國和世界經濟帶來的極大影響，全球經濟之互相依賴是無法逆轉的事實，如果政府只是在關稅上做為阻止他國商品進口之手段，已經無法解決工人失業問題， 只有譲一般百姓增加負擔，生計日愈困難也非明智之舉。

Tariffs Are Not The Only Solution

The U.S. economy is so hot that the demand for key materials can’t keep up. The prices for everything from lumber to computer chips is skyrocketing.

In 2017 and 2018 President Trump wanted to protect domestic jobs by adding tariffs on steel and the lumber industry

Despite a 20% pullback in recent weeks, lumber prices still were up 400% from the April 2020 low. This makes the average price of a new home go up $36,000. The price of steel products also went up 270% last year.

Lot of economists believe the high tariffs are hurting our economy in many ways. Meanwhile, both the steel and lumber industries are strongly urging Biden to keep the tariffs in place.

We also want to point out that the world economy is changing and the fact we all depend on each other. Our producers need to export overseas to stimulate our job market at home. If we continue using the strong tariffs policy, many other countries can do the same thing.

Because President Biden wants to accomplish the infrastructure project, we need to plan ahead. All the costs need to be calculated, not just create more jobs.