Trump continues to insist that his trade wars will make the economy great again, but business owners disagree. After Harley-Davidson was forced to move the production of their products overseas after a long period of low sales were capped off by higher tariffs after Trump began his tariff game, the last thing the MAGA administration needed was another American employer to threaten to call it quits.
Trump Tariffs Could Kill U.S. Synth Manufacturing, Says Moog https://t.co/ITF1uND3dS pic.twitter.com/1exBJtxNCb
— Synthtopia.com (@Synthtopia) June 29, 2018
In an email to customers, the musical instrument company said:
‘We need your help.
‘A U.S. tariff (import tax) on Chinese circuit boards and associated components is expected to take effect on July 6, 2018.
‘These tariffs will immediately and drastically increase the cost of building our instruments, and have the very real potential of forcing us to lay off workers and could (in a worst case scenario) require us to move some, if not all, of our manufacturing overseas.
‘There is one thing all of us can do together to try and stop this:Â Write to our elected officials.’
A small iconic, beloved American business @moogmusicinc that employs hundreds of talented people in Asheville may have to move abroad to make ends meet. The US started this trade war / tariff game. Sad & completely avoidable. #moog #trade #tariffs https://t.co/CrSsjCrOS8
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) July 3, 2018
NPR reports that:
‘The company came up with a template letter to North Carolina’s officials that it is asking customers to sign and send. In the template letter, Moog explains that it tries to make its circuit boards with U.S. suppliers when possible, sometimes paying up to 30 percent more than what it would cost to buy the same circuit boards overseas. Yet, even when Moog buys from domestic suppliers, most of the raw components still come from China. That’s why Moog is warning it can’t avoid “this substantial cost increase.”‘
“These tariffs will immediately and drastically increase the cost of building our instruments." https://t.co/I0Qbx7AoyK
— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) June 30, 2018
China’s retaliatory tariffs would add 25 percent to the cost of products Moog needs to assemble and manufacture their goods in the United States with American workers, which could potentially put them out of business.
Moog responds to Pres. Trump's tariffs with statement urging customers to call representatives https://t.co/0TthOwgubf pic.twitter.com/AASXiOpzrl
— billboard (@billboard) July 2, 2018
It seems that having a businessman in the White House is not leading to the economic boom Republicans had hoped for. Perhaps next time they should try to at least elect a businessman whose own companies have been more than hit-and-miss.
