This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Donald Trump has threatened to add punitive taxes on goods manufactured by companies that move U.S. factories overseas. Like many of Trump's ideas, it is half-baked even though there is a modicum of sense behind it. Adding some tax might well be the only way to offset the huge wage differentials that exist between the U.S. and developing nations.
What about companies that moved overseas before Trump? If they aren't taxed, they will have an unfair advantage. What about companies that only make a portion of their product overseas — like car companies and airplane manufacturers?
A better way to proceed might be to charge sales taxes based on the proportion of foreign content in a product. That would help companies who have resisted moving production overseas and encourage foreign companies to increase production in the USA.
What about companies that have moved white collar operations such as help desks and accounting overseas? That was many millions of jobs under George Bush alone, particularly in insurance, credit cards, health care and telecommunications — in all of which the major players are American. They may be American companies, but lots of their product content is overseas. Taxing them might help bring those jobs back to the USA.
We have to recognize that salaries are going to be higher in the USA than elsewhere for many years to come. If we want to keep jobs in the USA and maintain our standard of living, then innovative ideas will be necessary.
Frank Fish
Park City