Canadian Lumber Tariff

[BK9954]

Well, cost of production up here has all sorts of additional costs you don't have.. lets start with the $1(minimum) gallon high fuel price.. Also, "anti dumping" laws don't care what the cost of production is in YOUR country.. You produce pork and chicken at far lower prices than Mexico did and put a lot of small farmers there out of business.., just one of many things that crashed their economy and sent people fleeing (you guys get to deal with that now).

I have an issue with "free trade" when none of it is free.. I can get parts (cost of parts plus shipping) from china for less than it costs me to put it in the next door neighbors mailbox!
I'm not a big fan of it the way it stands... there's tons of problems with it, but cheap labor in other countries is only a small part of the labor problem, I think automation has had a FAR greater effect, and it will get worse.. What happens when all the major retailers, McDonalds, Home Depot, Walmart all go to automated checkouts? MILLIONS of people out of work.. granted it's not great paying work, but what else is there for these people to do.. Where else is a high school kid going to get some work experience?

The government has gotten in the way of labor cost here. As a business operator and having 50 employees I see all thousands of dollars in payroll taxes we pay the government on top of what we pay the employees. If they took this out we could pay more or, have more people employed. Then they shoved healthcare down our throat. Government screwed the whole thing up. They have sufficated growth, wages and prosperity. The taxation and regulation are in of the main reasons we have lost our jobs in recent years. The more I pay my employees, the more taxes I pay. Yes companies are going to automated systems. Can you blame them? What are we going to do now? Thats why I am a fiscal conservative real world modern libertarian. To know exactly what that means to me we would have to discuss. But taking government regulation out of the business place is a big part of my political beliefs. They have screwed up and made the free market not free anymore

 

[boondocks]

[
The problem is that we, as a society, are told that we HAVE to pay rock bottom prices for things. The reason being is so that we can buy MORE of things that we don't really need. Companies are getting bigger and bigger, and putting out worse products. People used to have jobs as they Maytag Repair Man. Now you just go buy a new one. We have a throw away culture, and it's not going to get better. So if we're not concerned about quality, why pay more for it? It allows these companies to produce more and more, maximizing profits and get bigger and bigger. All the while, the customer is getting hosed.

One of the truest statements I've read on CT. How many times have I bought something at Lowe's (lightbulbs; grill; etc) and thought: "boy, I would pay twice as much for a lightbulb or a grill that is actually WELL-MADE and will last, and isn't just a disposable p.o.s." Why do "they" think that all we care about is the cheapest price? If there's a good way to guarantee quality, I think a lot of people would rather buy well-made items they can fix and use for years.
Or maybe I'm just weird. Probably I'm just weird!

 

[Nesikep]

The only problem there is everyone claims to have good (or better) quality, and there is no independent testing done that actually looks for durability.. so while there is no way to know if the quality is actually better, you're stupid if you pay a higher price for a piece of garbage.
My dad worked at a testing facility in Switzerland in the mid 60's.. EVERY electrical component sold there had to go through RIGOROUS testing.. it had to meet certain physical criteria, as well as safety (Like UL, CSA, DOT etc).. I don't know what the accepted failure rate was, but switches had to go through 1 million cycles to be accepted.. likewise for light bulbs, they had to meet a certain number of on/off cycles, mechanical vibration, etc.
Problem with all these certifications is that over time the standards will get degraded so that everyone gets a trophy, and once again you're left to shop for the lowest price because once again it's all garbage

 

[Jogeephus]

Certifications and licensing!? All for the good of the public they claim yet in a short time they both just become another tax. I know of one which used to consist of a twelve member board with a staff that did a pretty decent job upholding the spirit of their charge but now its all automated and there is NO ONE you can talk to and your money is collected via the computer. But our politicians said we needed this.

And when all the taxes and fees are not enough there is always the intangible tax and the alternative tax yet I still don't have a phone. Ironically, our local government housing project is experiencing a lot of construction as they are building more parking spaces since 1 car per home isn't enough.

 

[greybeard]

certifications and licensing.....

In Oregonistan:
http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/26/after ... meras-oreg

 

[callmefence]

I know a old guy in lampasas Texas that just got a he11 of a deal on a western red cedar privacy fence. I bid and sold it about 2 months back. The increase in lumber prices 50 to 100 percent since completely ate up my pocket in the job.
I don't ask for more once a jobs sold. Bad business. I'm glad to take this one. Nice old guy. Korean war vet. And I agree with the tariff.

Make America work again

 

[Nesikep]

Jo, dang that it a retarded board!! and like most 'authorities' has got far too little productive stuff to do and far too much time on their hands, so they have to prove their jobs are valuable.. I got some middle fingers for them.

 

[Jogeephus]

certifications and licensing.....

In Oregonistan:
http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/26/after ... meras-oreg

Baffles the mind. Just baffles the mind.

The tax that gets me the most is the intangible tax I have to pay each year. No one can explain how its calculated which I believe them when they tell me this because intangible by definition is something without measure so I must assume whoever figures this figure just pulls it out their arse.

 

[Nesikep]

canada has simplified the tax forms
Line 1: How much money did you make last year?
Line 2: Send it to us.