In recent months there’s been talk in Congress about placing tariffs on products exported from China. Actually, this debate is hardly new. What’s different now is the fact that it has gained more traction with Democrats now in power in both the House and the Senate.

As usual, much of the debate touches on such issues as China’s failure to address infringement of intellectual property rights, its currency manipulation and lack of environmental regulations like those faced by U.S. manufacturers. The overriding concern is that these issues create an unlevel playing field that, in turn, create huge trade imbalances and huge job losses among U.S. manufacturers unable to compete against their Chinese counterparts.

Another big impetus for the tariffs is what elected officials call the unfair government subsidization of exports. This is a leg...Read More