Tariff cuts to proceed

Yes they can. As an Economics major, I'm sick of hearing all this tariff crap. Tariffs are only short term, people only understand one language. That's money.

A tariff may keep someone in a $40,000 job, but will generally cost the government about $200,000 when the costs are considered. The people receiving the money will lobby for it and it will get the vote because it seems like a good idea in theory and the money is spread out so people don't feel they're losing.

Tariff's simply subsidise ineffective production and it leads to the economy being much worse off. You people here should be thankful tariffs exist.

A Falcon/Commodore would cost about $140,000 if it was completely Australian owned/made. There's no such thing as an Australian car anymore because consumers got it cheaper when other people did it.

Same with Australian t-shirts. Would you happily pay $90 for a t-shirt which you could get the same quality Chinese one for $20? Most people would say no, but then would say that Australian jobs moved to China is a bad thing.

Bunch of hypocrites I say. Take a look around your house and see how much of it is there because of oversea's manufacturers. I'd say close to 99%. If Australia closed off trade, it would be us that would bear the brunt.

About tariffs. Instead of you paying $140,000 for a Falcon, the government picks up the bill for the remaining $100,000. Most people favour this because the cost is so spread out, but it just harms Australia in the long run.

Some tariffs are good, but Australia is going nuts with their 17th century mercantilist approach. I say cut the tariffs further.