> > > > 'why now at this moment the bourgeoisie have flipped from "free trade" to > "tariffs"?' > >
As Mark noted, the U.S. capitalist class has always been divided over free trade. The question is, why has support for protectionist measures increased over the last eight to ten years? The free trade/protectionist dividing line is descriptive and superficial. One level deeper, it is about how to relate to China. Starting from Deng's capitalist takeover in the late '70s, U.S. capital lusted after production at cheap wages in China versus production in the U.S. The transfer took off in the early 1990's. It was a glorious sharing of surplus value between U.S. capitalists and the PRC state and private capitalists. For a long time U.S. capitalists ignored that their joint ventures, along with outright industrial espionage by the PRC, grew industrial might that was not under U.S. control. >From eight to ten years ago, the results could no longer be ignored: Chinese >capital taking market share in China from Apple, the auto corporations, etc.; >Chinese capital taking market share in the U.S.; Chinese capital export taking >export market share around the world away from U.S. exports; China buying and >building economic control points such as ports around the world; and China >becoming a military contender on the foundation of its industrial development. More U.S. capitalists now see that the challenge to their imperialist interests is strategic. They are for selective "de-linking" tariffs and other tools as well as some industrial policy subsidies for U.S. capital in the U.S. But their class interest is set against the continuing desire of particular capitals to profit off doing business in and with China: much of Wall Street; retailers like Walmart and Amazon; and hollowed-out industrial corporations that think they can dominate with their product design and brand while they depend on production in China, like Apple and a wide swath of mass-market goods corporations. In short, the contradiction between U.S. and Chinese monopoly capital becomes more antagonistic every day. This is why “at this moment the bourgeoisie has flipped from free trade to tariffs.” -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#33735): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/33735 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/109762258/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
