XPost: rec.food.cooking, alt.home.repair, alt.politics.trump   
   XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: dtl@invalid.net   
      
   Hank Rogers wrote:   
   > Companies don't pay taxes and tariffs ... they just pass them along to   
   > their customers.   
      
   And yet that is NOT what the real world report on tariffs show us, and   
   you damned well know it!   
      
   https://prosperousamerica.org/economic-view-tariff-jumping-inves   
   ment-the-success-of-the-2018-washing-machine-tariffs/   
      
   In 2013, the Obama administration imposed tariffs on imported washing   
   machines from South Korea. This led the Korean producers to shift   
   production for the U.S. market to China, which led to another   
   anti-dumping investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission.   
   That investigation published a finding in December 2016 that Chinese   
   washing machines benefited from subsidies (“anti-dumping margins” in the   
   formal lingo) of 44.28% and recommended duties at that level. The Trump   
   administration, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as the   
   driving force, decided instead to impose global duties or tariffs on all   
   imported large residential washing machines, whatever their source. The   
   duties, imposed in January 2018, started at 20% and once the quota of   
   1.2 million imported washers was reached, rose to 50%.   
      
   For years, the two large importers, Samsung and LG Electronics, had   
   opposed any import restrictions. But once those tariffs were in place,   
   the Korean manufacturers quickly changed their tune.   
      
   In 2018, LG Electronics completed an investment of $360 million in a new   
   “smart factory” in Clarksville, Tennessee. LG hired 700 employees and   
   began building washing machines there. In April 2021, it announced that   
   it had produced 1 million washing machines at Clarksville. It said it   
   was investing a further $20.5 million and hiring 300 more employees, to   
   bring its Clarksville headcount to “about 1,000.” In December 2022, LG   
   announced three new model washing machines capitalizing on the trend   
   towards energy-efficient and “smart” (i.e. Internet-enabled) appliances.   
   Those new models are all to be made in Clarksville.   
      
   Buck Dellinger, CEO of the Clarksville Industrial Development Board,   
   told us that LG Electronics is one of a number of large companies that   
   have chosen to build facilities in the Clarksville industrial park.   
   Clarksville set up the industrial park 22 years ago to build up an   
   industrial base to offer alternative employment in case the nearby Fort   
   Campbell army base reduced its presence in the area. In the last five   
   years, the industrial park has added 4,514 direct jobs, and a total of   
   7,236 including indirect jobs, Dellinger said. Indirect jobs include   
   suppliers to the companies in the industrial park, and service companies   
   serving employees such as restaurants and convenience stores. In the ten   
   years to 2022, Clarksville’s average salary grew 77%, as compared to the   
   U.S. growth rate of 62%. With 177,000 residents, Clarksville is adding   
   population at over 3% a year and is now Tennessee’s fifth largest city,   
   right behind Chattanooga.   
      
   “We’re ecstatic to have LG Electronics in the region,” said Buck   
   Dellinger. “Advanced manufacturing helps to give us low unemployment, a   
   high workforce participation rate, and a young workforce.” Dellinger   
   recently returned from a trip to South Korea where he met with LG   
   executives. “They are a very stable company, and take good care of their   
   employees. They have enough land here to quadruple their operation and   
   we hope they do.”   
      
   It’s a similar story in Newberry, South Carolina, where Samsung built an   
   appliance facility in 2018. In 2017, recognizing that the Trump   
   administration was determined to clamp down on washer imports, Samsung   
   announced plans to invest $350 million to build a manufacturing facility   
   in Newberry, South Carolina with 1,000 employees. In 2020, Samsung   
   invested an additional $120 million to expand the facility, which now   
   employs 1,200.   
      
   Newberry is a smaller, more rural and agricultural area than   
   Clarksville. Located 40 miles northwest of Columbia, Newberry County’s   
   population is just 38,000. Samsung is one of only two manufacturers in   
   the county with more than 1,000 employees. The other is a food   
   processing company. As a relatively high-tech appliance manufacturer   
   that designs as well as manufactures products, Samsung has had a   
   significant impact on business, jobs, and prosperity in Newberry County.   
   According to a local news report last October, the “Samsung effect” in   
   Newberry has contributed to investment in new housing developments, new   
   restaurants and other new businesses in the area. The report quoted John   
   Worthington, Executive Chef at local restaurant Figaro the Dining Room,   
   who said: “with these bigger corporations like Samsung coming in,   
   they’re bringing in good-paying jobs which makes the economy and the   
   town better.” Figaro is currently advertising for employees.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)