America First - National Security & Jobs

In the last 20 years, instead of building new factories in the US, companies closed about 70,000 and shipped more than 5 million jobs overseas primarily to China.  In the process, China got rich and many little mill towns in the US were devastated.  When I was a "free trader" I supporter this move because I believed it would lead to much lower prices, which in the end would even benefit those who lost their jobs in the US.  I assumed that China and other countries would buy goods and services from the US so that we would have a trade balance creating other jobs for those who were displaced.  

But, that is not what happened.  Companies did not lower prices instead just gaining more profits.  And, China has turned into an industrial powerhouse and both an economic and military threat to the United States at our expense.  China got rich while we have had to borrow trillions of dollars often from them to fund government spending.  There is something very wrong with this picture.  Politicians of both political parties have really screwed this up for years.  

Equally important is that China now controls the supply chain for goods that are critical to our economy and people.  So, for example about 80% of drugs are made in China just as Baby Boomers are retiring at the rate of 10,000 a day for the next 15 - 20 years.  Most solar equipment and wind turbines are made in China as the Socialist Fascist (AKA Democrats ) in our country push for the Green New Deal, which will make lots of jobs in China; but very few in the US.  And, rather than take advantage of energy in the US to make our country energy independent as happened when Trump was President, feckless Biden signed Executive Orders, which has forced him to beg OPEC and Russia for oil.  Further, China is not cutting back on carbon emissions, which makes anything we do in the US to cut emissions meaningless job killers.  China also controls critical minerals needed for batteries so more jobs joining to them.  

What we have learned from all of this is that many industries should be designated as critical to our National Security and therefore products coming from other countries for those items must carry very high tariffs to force companies to make those products in the United States.  We need Fair Trade not Free Trade.  We must never again be held hostage by China or any other country related to products that are are vital to our country.  We must practice America First to protect our country from economic blackmail.  President Trump got it right when he preached America First.  We must get our country back on track to protect the interest of the United States and our people.