Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
I'm sure you've noticed that Donald Trump has been taking a lot of time out from his busy schedule of grooming that animal that lives on his head and making a fool of himself over Obama's birth certificate to bash China and declare that our purchase of so many products made there is destroying America.
"China is raping this country," Mr. Trump said during an appearance in New Hampshire, the nation's first primary state...The New York real estate magnate said, if elected, he would create jobs and "put the nation back to work."
"When this country became great was the industrial revolution," he said. "We are now the opposite of the industrial revolution, and pretty soon we are going to fall off a cliff."
And that's just the beginning. China is "laughing at us all," he has declared in other venues. "They think we are dumb SOBs," he says. They're an "absolute abuser" of America that is "looking to strip us of everything."
"When it comes to manufacturing, China is making all of these products. And they could be made in North Carolina, they could be made in Alabama, they could be made in lots of our places. And right now they're not. Personally, I'd tax China very, very heavily. "
Given the title of the blog, you know where this is leading. Guess where Donald Trump's clothing line is made? What a shock. Now, what do you suppose The Donald would do if Congress attempted to put a tax on clothing imported from China? He'd spend as much money as he had to in order to bribe legislators to keep that from happening.
I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.
Politics
Comments
Didn't the Chinese learn a lot about economic rape during the opium wars? Paybacks are a bitch.
Posted by: Marcus Ranum | April 29, 2011 12:56 PM
The Donald forgets that America remains a huge manufacturing powerhouse - we are just so incredibly efficient at it that it really doesn't generate a huge number of jobs. But when your business is over-leveraging real estate and bankrupting casinos - that's hard to see.
Posted by: tim | April 29, 2011 12:58 PM
Remember back when everybody was shitting themselves in fear that it was going to be the Japanese who were going to buy our country out from under us?
Yeah, neither do I.
Posted by: harmfulguy | April 29, 2011 1:00 PM
Ed, Trump has already explained all this. China makes manufacturing so goldarned cheap through manipulation of its currency that American companies are forced -- forced I tells ya! -- to make their crappy shit there. That means that Trump cannot be held responsible for what his company does.
"Trump only pawn in game of life."
Posted by: Fifth Dentist | April 29, 2011 1:01 PM
Well, at least he's honest enough to let buyers know that his shirts are "shoddy," and they should instead look for clothing made in the US.
Posted by: Ellie | April 29, 2011 1:01 PM
China produces something like 90% of our rare-earth elements. Taxing China "very, very heavily" when they have that kind of leverage over us sounds kinda stupid to me.
China has been doing far more damage to their own country while digging up the materials we need for our high-tech industries. Who is looking to strip who of everything now?
Additional negative points for Trump's use of the word "rape".
Posted by: Imrryr | April 29, 2011 1:05 PM
Attention tone trolls: Trump! Sic 'im!
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | April 29, 2011 1:13 PM
In fairness to China, this country was kind of asking for it.
Posted by: lofgren | April 29, 2011 1:17 PM
Things would be more equitable if China had a proportional share of Donald Trumps and a quarter of our population worked for fifty cents an hour. I'm not sure who would be getting the worse of that deal.
Posted by: Art | April 29, 2011 1:25 PM
They think we are dumb SOBs
...and I have great difficulty arguing with them.
Posted by: schism | April 29, 2011 1:27 PM
""They think we are dumb SOBs,""
What is this "we" shit, orange man?
Posted by: Moopheus | April 29, 2011 1:49 PM
Trump: "China is raping this country"
In other news, New York heroin dealers issued a statement today blaming U.S. heroin addiction on Afghan poppy growers.
Posted by: eric | April 29, 2011 1:54 PM
I do. I particularly remember that at the time when everyone was shitting themselves over this, the Dutch owned more US Real Estate than the Japanese did, but somehow no one was worried about that, or even knew.
Posted by: Dave | April 29, 2011 1:55 PM
The Dongald has proven that he has what it takes to be a successful politician:
1.) Lying through your teeth? Check!
b.) Being a failure in business and complaining about the way the gummint, a non-business doesn't have to follow the rules.
4.) Being an incredibly out-of-touch asshole.
The fucktard is strong in this one.
Posted by: democommie | April 29, 2011 2:09 PM
"When this country became great was the industrial revolution," he said. "We are now the opposite of the industrial revolution, and pretty soon we are going to fall off a cliff.
This is basically what the rhetoric of those who go misty eyed of the Victorian period in Britain say. It curiously glosses over how different the world economy is these days, that we don't subject workers to horrendous working conditions (in our own country at least I guess)and that we should really be working towards knowledge economies in the west as out future.
Posted by: Richard D | April 29, 2011 2:12 PM
Anyone care to hazard a guess about the reaction of Trump and fellow travelers to the Free Market Solution to our trade imbalance?
Hint: the dollar is overvalued as part of an explicit US policy dating back at least 30 years.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | April 29, 2011 2:20 PM
hmmm... and yet many businesses are coming back to the US because of increased quality and much less shipping costs.
Heck some Chinese businesses are coming over here for manufacturing (http://ogremk5.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/can-the-us-get-manufacturing-money-from-china/). Fords are made in Mexico, but Hyundia's and Toyota's are made in the US. That's so weird...
Posted by: OgreMkV | April 29, 2011 2:20 PM
This sentiment seems to be common among the right-wing. You can't blame corporations for their actions, they are just a force of nature, as if they aren't made up of people making decisions. And yet the opposite holds true for government, you are free to blame it for all the ills.
Posted by: Dennis N | April 29, 2011 2:44 PM
Take a look at last night's Letterman show--Dave (with Dr. Phil as guest) pretty much out-and-out called Trump a racist. A few minutes later, he's informed that The Donald has been booked as a guest (in early May, I think), and asks Barbara "are we sure we want to have a racist on the program?" (probably not exact quote, but close enough) Dave really looked angered (well, for him) by the whole birther nonsense; it was refreshing to see someone calling Trump out, rather than pussyfooting around the issue.
Posted by: Cuttlefish | April 29, 2011 3:06 PM
The first thing that popped into my ordinary-schlub-on-the-street mind was this: China isn't doing anything it wasn't asked to do by American/international companies.
So, who's doing what to the poor lil' old U.S. again?
Companies that outsource labor to other countries should be the ones that are taxed if we want to encourage U.S. manufacturing, seems to me, but what do I know? IOW, is that too simplistic?
Posted by: twincats | April 29, 2011 3:10 PM
I was saddened by Dave's remark, because it only strengthens Donald's validity with the anti-affirmative action crowd and throws fuel to the fire in the sense that his narrative about the media protecting Obama is true. Trump will have the publicity of calling Letterman out for his personal remark in what could likely escalate into a media feud - in essence, Donald has another free chance to show that he's the tough guy who won't take any insults.
Posted by: SW | April 29, 2011 3:11 PM
This is really interesting. While most Republicans are happy to demagogue pretty much anything, one thing they would never do is to threaten the cheap supply of labor that China offers by flirting with a trade war. And since mere rhetoric of this kind will set Chinese alarm bells ringing, I imagine that the Donald is going to be persona non grata among Republican power brokers pretty soon.
Posted by: Steve Reuland | April 29, 2011 3:43 PM
tim @ 2:
An enormous amount of business which is consumed by the end customer in the U.S. which was previously and primarily manufactured here is no longer built in the U.S., e.g. clothes such as Mr. Trump's line.
While our volume of goods manufactured in the states has gone up from factors such as productivity, we longer dominate as a share of the global market. Our inability disproportionately exploit global economic growth has caused tremendous damage to our labor market, especially since we educate our work force as if we require uneducated low-paid workers when in fact our sweet spot now requires a disproportionate amount of well-educated high-paid workers. "Disproportionate" in terms of our past and our current/future opportunities against other countries with a large manufacturing presence.
Posted by: Michael Heath | April 29, 2011 4:03 PM
Michael Heath,
I don't think you and Tim are in disagreement here, as far as I can see.
US manufacturing has shifted to those products for which high productivity is possible (at the expense of significant capital investment) where China has taken all of the low productivity manufacturing through cheap labor.
The US is still a major player in semiconductor manufacturing, for instance - particularly at the leading edge where it is well ahead of China technologically and commands a significant share of the global market. Shirt making? Not so much. Question is - do we really want that stuff back?
But I completely agree that we have a gigantic mismatch in terms of our eduction system. I doubt any politicians will even recognize that issue, let alone take it up any time soon.
Posted by: Brain Hertz | April 29, 2011 4:21 PM
@24...
Why not? In case you haven't noticed, unemployment here is still high.
It's not the highly skilled professionals who are begging for work. Nor is it -- let's be honest here -- the completely unskilled laborer for whom a job as a Wal-Mart greeter is considered top shelf.
It's that middle-range job that's gone -- one that requires a high school or tech school education but pays better than minimum wage. Construction trades. But most importantly, manufacturing jobs. In January, the US finally created more manufacturing jobs than it lost for the first time in a decade.
It's not "the economy, stupid". It's jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.
Posted by: Kevin | April 29, 2011 5:38 PM
Trump's argument for high tariffs demonstrates yet again that most businessmen are not pro-market. Adam Smith remarked upon it in 1776:
There's an important distinction between being pro-market and being pro-business. Unfortunately neither most liberals nor most conservatives ever seem to recognize it.
Posted by: James Hanley | April 29, 2011 6:08 PM
Brian Hertz @ 24:
That's not true. China's got a lot of engineering-intensive, automated manufacturing lines as well products which have a lot of labor-intensive value-add. E.g., printed-circuit boards, printed-circuit board assemblies, consumer electronics, even optics. There is also a growing concentration of continuous flow manufacturing operations there as well which are also engineering intensive, e.g., Dow Chemical has a massive presence there.
The U.S. has lost out on a ton of business we'd love to manufacture here which extends well beyond labor-intensive products. Our losses in this regard aren't entirely our fault, to some extent manufacturing has become regionalized in terms of trade policies which make it difficult to import finished goods into certain regions to encourage manufacturing in that region. NAFTA is an example of regional trading partners that offer a suite of capabilities that compete with Europe's Western and Eastern European footprint. E.g., products sold in Western Europe can be more cheaply built in Hungary rather than Mexico because of certain trade polices between our region vs. Europe's.
Posted by: Michael Heath | April 29, 2011 6:17 PM
At least they looked the same as Real Americans, amirite?
Posted by: harmfulguy | April 29, 2011 6:36 PM
This is hilarious. In a story about the gay characters in Glee, Fox News reporter responds to Brian Fischer's claim that it glorifies homosexuality with this gem, "We all know about product placement. You through a soda in a movie and, you know, within a few seconds everybody is thirsty for that brand"
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110426-is-tv-too-gay
Posted by: Owen | April 29, 2011 7:06 PM
Owen@29 Yes...hilarious! Product placement! LOL! Thanks for the evening guffaw.
Posted by: Ellie | April 29, 2011 7:51 PM
Imrryr, on rare earths: China isn't particularly blessed with them, just market bs.
Posted by: blah | April 29, 2011 7:55 PM
blah @ 31:
Ummmmm, no. Bayan Obo is actually the largest known deposit of REE elements on the planet and China current supplies around 97% of them today. This explains the pending reopening of Mountain Pass in CA, and the boom in REE exploration around the world.
Posted by: NJ | April 29, 2011 8:39 PM
@OBEYME: Yes, it's entirely possible that Obama is lying down right now, in bed or on the sofa. And people are dying, yes. People die at a constant rate, that's the way of the world. So what?
Posted by: Emily | April 29, 2011 11:08 PM
I like the smell of braindead fuckwads at 11:00 PM (@33&34) the smell reminds me...it reminds me that of what my neighbor's septic smelled like when it backed up.
Posted by: democommie | April 29, 2011 11:09 PM
nutcase @ 33:
Ed, from the referenced post:
No. I don't remember. And neither do you as it turns out.
Now go brush your teeth and get into your jammies. The grownups talk here.
Posted by: NJ | April 29, 2011 11:26 PM
"While Obama is LYING, People are DYING"
And there's a causal link?
Xo if he just stopped lying, we'd all be immortal?
Posted by: Ian Gould | April 30, 2011 5:57 AM
"Because of the fact that China so manipulates their currency it makes it almost impossible for American companies to compete,"
Read more: http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/donald-trump-admits-wrong-kinda/#ixzz1L02ccwSm
"China’s yuan strengthened beyond 6.5 per dollar for the first time since 1993, supported by speculation the central bank will allow appreciation to help tame the fastest inflation in more than two years."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-29/china-s-yuan-strengthens-beyond-6-5-per-dollar-for-first-time-since-1993.html
Posted by: Ian Gould | April 30, 2011 6:07 AM
China ships container after container of manufactured goods, and we send back IOUs. Not sure who's the dummy in the relation.
Posted by: Mu | April 30, 2011 9:44 AM
OBEYME:
Oh, blow me. You're a chancre with "jimmies" on it, no, really.
Posted by: democommie | April 30, 2011 11:50 AM
"China ships container after container of manufactured goods, and we send back IOUs."
I know you've been told this repeatedly but it's not even close to being true.
http://www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html
Posted by: Ian Gould | April 30, 2011 8:05 PM
Am I jumping the shark to suggest that it's time for a new splinter party, "The Trumpbaggerz*. I mean, it sorta gives "combover" a whole new meaning.
*(TM(C)2011 Democommie Communications, a division of brand democommie and Crazier than a shithouse rat in a thermometer factory produtions.
Posted by: democommie | May 1, 2011 11:35 AM