Trade tariffs (why local economies need not be worried)
Trade tariffs are when other countries put taxes on imported and experted goods, to protect domestic industry from foreign competition, so generate more government revenue.
As an example, if a small business buys a motor part from the US for £100 and Trump adds £10, it will cost him £110. She he then passes this cost to the buyer of his machine.
A few years ago it was about sausages when England left the EU ( if people eat sausages, they should be eating free-range ones from local organic farms anyway).
Today, Trump is throwing tariffs at anyone who don’t agree with him. This can be bad in some cases (for instance, hospital equipment may need parts from the US). But overall, local economies need not worry.
If we grew our own food (instead of importing 70% of our apples), built our own eco-homes with local materials and had good public transport (instead of importing cars), tariffs would mostly not affect us.
Importing goods also means more climate emissions. Instead of flying palm oil from Indonesia to sell fried potatoes that indirectly harm orangutans, we could support farmers and use local rapeseed oil instead.
Because we don’t have local economies, tariffs affect us. Say someone has to pay £10 more for a motor part. He then has less money to spend in shops for food. The grocery closes and then goes on benefits, instead of paying tax. There is then less public money to fund services.
Then right-ring politicians say ‘we have no money because of people on boats’. And people struggling believe the two are linked, and end up voting for populous politicians. When often it’s their right-wing friends abroad that are causing a lot of the issues.
Local economies feel less impact
When towns are resilient (local food, local shops, credit unions, community solar panels), they don’t get hammered like other places. They grow their own food, and walkable communities with solar panels and organic produce all use no oil, so prices can stay low.
It’s peaceful and empowering! MPs and big business say that people must put up with food price hikes due to oil prices. But take away oil and imports, and there’s no issue. Local people can say ‘We’ll just live simply and buy less thank you.
