&&t the BUFFALOg

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Here's a law that Barack Obama and Jack Davis can both agree on.

With the exception of high-end footwear, more than 95% of the shoes Americans wear are produced outside the U.S. Yet the U.S. still imposes a tax on imported shoes that can reach as high as 67%, a legacy (believe it or not) of the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930. Shoe tariffs raise more money than auto tariffs, and the tax is applied most heavily on the lowest-priced imported footwear.

"This is the most regressive policy in America today," says Ed Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute. "The biggest victims are poor, single mothers." He's right. The tariff steals about $5 billion a year from U.S. consumers, and a family that shops at Payless or Wal-Mart typically pays a $5 duty on a $15 pair of sneakers.



Both Barack and Jack agree that tariffs will protect "American jobs." Many Americans have the idea that tariffs are paid by the foreign manufacturers. Wrong! We pay them in higher prices. I sure wish someone would ask Mr. Davis (or Mr. Obama) to explain their positions in light of that.

posted by Craig @ 8:12 PM   0 comments |