Jyst a heads up, fellas. Looking at he proposed list of tariffs to be announced June 15th, it looks like many car parts could be affected. Bearings and races, heat exchange cores (radiators), all kinds of steel and aluminum stock, electrical components (resistors, capacitors etc), batteries including lead-acid, gaskets, and probably more I'm leaving out. You may want to go ahead and get any of these parts now if you're planning to get anything imported from the chicoms.
Welding and soldering equipment will be affected too. Chinese made obviously, but who knows what the effect will be on US made gear. I've been putting off the purchase of a MIG machine and I'm buying American made but I'm going to go ahead and buy before the tariffs go into effect just in case.

 

More motivation to buy American made stuff . Cheap China stuff will be just Cheaply made and not so $$ cheap .
I say this is a good thing

 

Keep in mind we'll hear things about a trade war from the "experts" with their PhDs (Permanent Head Damage) in Economics. Keep in mind I'm not an anti-intellectual, it's just that these guys, while they have the credentials, are just quacks.

We've been in a "trade surrender" for a long, long time. Those folks need our markets way, way more than we need them. That's why there is room for negotiation in the first place. "Free Trade" sounds good. Maybe we should try it sometime.

Congress and the rest of it is a sick, sick joke for the most part. Some fine legislators, just not enough of them. In any case a favorable balance of trade is what's at issue. As a nation we cannot simply borrow billions of dollars at interest every month from China (or anybody else) simply to buy their stuff at the same time.

You'll hear the word "sustainability" a lot but it's not all that often used when talking about finance. American wages for Americans. Good jobs. Crazy talk, I know. Used to be standard platform for both political parties. They really have jumped the shark. If I said what I think sometimes I'd get banned.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. To hell with those commie pukes.
But honestly,
I do buy a tool from harbor freight from time to time, especially when the budget is tight. I bet most here have. But the times of cheap Chinese crap are possibly coming to a close. So if you're going to take advantage of the trade deficit, now might be your last chance. USA made competitors might end up costing more, too. All in all not necessarily a bad thing for us collectively, jobs and keeping the money here and all that, but you've gotta get all the bang you can for your buck. The politicians and corporations sold us all out long ago and me personally buying a million dollars' worth of cheap Chinese **** wouldn't make one iota of difference in the scheme of things, only in my bottom line. Both political parties are ONE PARTY, if you hadn't already noticed.
So I say, stock up while you can. But to each his own. I'm no PhD, but it's easy to see which way the wind is blowing. If I owned any HF stock I'd definitely be selling it, and if I had the money is even short it right now. Like I said earlier, I'm buying a USA made Hobart 190 MIG but not because it's cheaper up front - in fact it costs substantially more but in the long run its a better value.
I look at driving a 9MPG pre-smog 460Ford gas hog the same way. I could drive it 300 miles a day until I die, and I've still got nothing on the BP oil spill in the gulf.

 

Every single US reserve note is borrowed money that we pay interest on to the Federal Reserve. Nobody seems to care much about that, but I'd wager it costs us more every day than the Chinese trade deficit.

 

2X Ted in a BIG way.
Also, besides our proud and brave 18 to 22 year olds and there Generals, you know the main reason WE turned the tide in WWII? THE INDUSTRIAL MIGHT that we HAD. It's about time we get it back.

 

Oh no! What's Dennis Carpenter going to do?

 

mrpotatohead i think the real question is. what is lmc going to do.?

 

"The Arsenal of Democracy." -FDR