The Bible could be a victim in Trump's trade war

[MikeInVA]

The purpose of these news items is not to write about the “wide range of products that could be impacted by a tariff” but how Bibles will be affected.

Bibles will not be affected differently than anything else under discussion.

Given that, the term “Bible tax” is logical, and your point (that “non-poor” journalism will report on all products affected by a tariff) makes no sense at all.

The term “Bible Tax” is not logical. This article appeared in the business section, not a religion section, so yes, it was a term that was invented to stoke peoples’ emotions.

 

[ralfyman]

Nonsense. It’s a plea by publishers to exempt religious products, which should be the case. And the term was given not by reporters but by the publishers themselves, some of whom include evangelicals who support Trump.

Publishers Plead With Trump Not to Impose a 'Bible Tax' With New China Tariffs

Proposed tariffs on China affects Chinese made Bibles and children’s books.

time.com

They are also supported by charities who give away not only copies of the Bible but also children’s books to poor families.

 

[IdaCatholic]

Printing bibles suffer in a trade war? What next? Wagon masters suffer as well? Or 8 track machine makers?

 

[Cathoholic]

I asked ralfy for some sources of his articles so I can make my own decisions.

Ralfy did cite three articles (thanks ralfy).

Ralfy. You went on to state . . .

Whatever claims you have concerning virtue signalling are highly questionable.

I think my intimation of CNN virtue signaling was right on.

Look at your own initial post . . . .

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Also, you’re confused concerning China charging more for Bibles (they’re not, which is why U.S. publishers began outsourcing two decades ago)

No I am not.

China (meaning the company in China AND the extra tariff money that they pass on to the American consumer eventually) is what I was referring to.

They will charge more for Bibles. (I got this information from your source ralfy: “Book publishers are warning that those tariffs will cause the price of printing the Bible to soar . . . ”)

You are going to argue the “soar” is from the USA.

I am going to argue unfair trade agreements in the past led to President Trump retaliating on China’s trade War (not “Trump’s). The “soaring” is from China.

Christian Post and Crux I can see them focusing on the Bible aspect. That is fair enough.

CNN and Washington Post (and Time) is laughable that you suggest no anti-Trump bias.
(But CNN is what my main focus had to do with.)

Like I said. Look at your own initial post and read how it is phrased.

They selectively took this story and focused on Bible publisher’s complaints because it fit an anti-Trump narrative that they had to an audience that they usually do not have.

You don’t draw such conclusions from ONLY this article.

You watch the pattern of their behavior over time and evaluate “this article” in light of that.

You know. Like two and a half years of feeding you people a phony anti-Trump “Russian Collusion” narrative as well as the daily anti-Don.

Thanks for posting more information. It reinforces my thoughts.

Your petrodollars argument is fine. Much of it I already know and agree with. The problem is, Bible production in China or lack of Bible production in China won’t affect that (so why bring it up here).

The “voodoo economics” crack was “political” and everybody knew it then (I was there) and if you study it knows it now. It was meant to manipulate the conservative voters who favored Regan over Bush in the primary. This was self-destructive (Bush later joined Regan obviously) and it almost cost Regan the Presidency (and Bush the VP) initially.

Bush also spewed out the self-destructive “read my lips. No new taxes” manipulative comment when he got in the White House on Regan’s coattails and lied about it. The conservative voters never forgave Bush for that (nor did he seek forgiveness. Globalists like Bush rarely do). His self-destructive comment DID cost him the White House that time. He never recovered politically except with people like Bill Clinton.

 

[Cathoholic]

ralfy . . . .

Why should they be forced to wait for domestic publishers to restart local Bible printing using thin paper when even that might be affected by trade restrictions?

Ask China.

When Dell orders computer parts, they get them from manufacturers from several different countries. The reason they diversify is if an unforeseen supply interruption occurs, they have alternatives already in place. This is a good business practice.

Shift to other non-domestic suppliers. Taiwan is what I mentioned earlier (there are others).

My preference is that they “shift” to America anyway.

Thus, you’re trying to insert a topic (i.e., this is all about blaming Trump) when that’s not at all the point of this news!

That was precisely the point of the story.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

That was precisely the point of the story. Harpoon President Trump. And it is not working.

 

[ralfyman]

The price of printing will go up not because China will start a trade war. Rather, it will respond to a trade war that was started by the U.S. Similar problems will be faced by other countries who are tied to the U.S. financial industry, like Singapore.

Why do you keep making this an anti-Trump issue? If any other President did the same, then China would have responded in the same way.

Also, are you aware that even outlets like Fox are reporting on the same?

Notice that they are using the same phrases and arguments given by the publishers and the charities. And all they’re asking is to exempt religious materials from trade restrictions.

Given that, your claims of virtue signalling are illogical. Stop trying to change the topic. If you want to talk about anti-Trump views, then do it in another thread.

 

[ralfyman]

Ask China? That makes absolutely no sense at all. Given your arguments, one should ask U.S. publishers who outsourced two decades ago.

And where did you get the idea that this is a “supply interruption”? It’s not.

As for non-domestic suppliers (you mean printers?), please give evidence, and I mean links to articles. By the way, by doing that, you in no way prove claims that this is all “fake news” or “virtue signalling,” as you are essentially acknowledging this issue.

Finally, your conclusion–that it is meant to “[h]arpoon President Trump,” is complete nonsense because the publishers and charities aren’t asking to end trade restrictions. Rather, religious materials should be exempted, which should be the case even without a trade war.

 

[ralfyman]

That’s off-topic. You should discuss that elsewhere.

 

[Cathoholic]

ralfy . . . .

The price of printing will go up not because China will start a trade war.

You are missing the point ralfy.

China has ALREADY STARTED the trade war long ago.

Only now America is considering responding to it.

ralfy . . . .

And where did you get the idea that this is a “supply interruption”? It’s not.

From your articles.

A supply of inexpensive Bibles ralfy due to the lack of thin pages.

Below from ralfy’s OP article . . .

Alternative sources not available​

The main obstacle is that Bibles are expensive to print. The high word count — 10 times that of an ordinary book — means that Bibles need to be printed on very thin paper, HarperCollins said. And that thin paper must be printed on special machines.

“Alternative sources for printing are not readily available in the United States or elsewhere,” Schoenwald said.

Second bold in above quote mine.

 

[ralfyman]

Didn’t I explain that to you earlier? China did not start a trade war with the U.S. because the dollar is a global reserve currency. That’s why the U.S. had been experiencing trade deficits since the 1970s.

A supply interruption refers to a lack of material resources and not the price of goods!

Finally, just in case you still don’t get it. Not just Fox News but even various conservatives and Evangelicals (one of Trump’s major supporters) are reporting on the same, and they involve not just publishers but even publishing groups like the AAP, charities like Biblica, and commissions like the ERLC:

Bibles Threatened by US Trade War with China, Christian Publishers Warn

HarperCollins, Tyndale, and others warn Trump administration that 25-percent tariff hike will make God’s Word harder to get—and could cause some translations to be discontinued.

www.christianitytoday.com

Trump's trade war could lead to a shortage of Bibles in the US, major publishers and religious charities warn

Most of the US' Bibles are printed in China, and Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on goods from China, including books.

www.businessinsider.com

http://bpnews.net/53260/trade-war-could-disrupt-bible-supply-publishers-warn

US-China trade war could lead to shortage on Bibles, Christian books, publishers say

Publishers worry President Trump's proposed tariffs on Chinese goods could lead to an increase in the cost of Bibles printed in China, possibly leading to a shortage.

www.foxnews.com

Christian Publishers Urge Trump to Not Impose ‘Bible Tax’ in Trade War With China

Book publishers are pleading with President Donald Trump to not impose what they are calling a “Bible tax.” The United States and China have been in a trade war for months. The proposed U.S. tariffs are on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods and would impact many different industries, including...

www1.cbn.com

The head of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association got it right: books (not just the Bible) have always been exempted from tariffs. If any, that’s the main point of this news, which you obviously missed.

 

[Cathoholic]

Finally, just in case you still don’t get it, there is a pattern of this type of thing occurring at CNN.

That is what the two and a half years of virtual nightly fake news from CNN was all about.
(A phony “Russian Collusion” narrative that leftists feasted on despite conservatives telling them they were being hoodwinked. But they WANTED it to be true. And we all know what Pope Francis says about people WANTING fake news. Don’t we? See Pope Francis’ warnings here. He says it is sick.).

Finally, just in case you still don’t get it, the petrodollar problem has to do with all tariff items. Not just Bibles.

And all countries. Not just China.

And transcends this presidency. Not just Trump’s.

Yes the Bible publishers don’t like it.

But CNN and other anti-Trump outfits over-focusing on this aspect, is phony. (And just look at the way the secular outfits paint their rhetoric versus most of the Christian news sources. Look at them from your own links. See if you can see the difference.)

At least that is my opinion.

(I did not say that about all news outlets. I explicitly said these are reasonable stories coming from Crux, etc. So please don’t broad-brush what I am saying here.)

.

ralfy . . .

A supply interruption refers to a lack of material resources and not the price of goods!

Finally, just in case you still don’t get it, a “supply interruption” can be an interruption in any part of the chain of supply of manufacturing substrate. In the case of Dell it was with chips. Not “silver” for the chips. And their supply diversification protected their company during focuses of political turmoil from supply companies.

I stand by everything I have said.

 

[ralfyman]

The other sources I shared with you include not just conservative media outlets like Fox but even Christian media and Evangelical groups, Trump’s main supporters. The phrases “Bible tax” and others did not come from CNN or these outlets but from publishers, the ERLC, Biblica, and Evangelical publishers. These are not anti-Trump or even liberal groups.

The rest of your arguments–that it’s criticism of the trade war, that this is “fake news,” etc.–are all garbage. All these publishers and charities want is to exempt books, including Bibles and religious materials. That’s all.

Discussing these issues with you is a waste of time as you are doing nothing more than trolling.

That’s it: I’m ignoring your posts from now on.

 

[Cathoholic]

All these publishers and charities want is to exempt books, including Bibles and religious materials. That’s all.

Why not tell that to the Chinese government?

Regarding exceptions, why should America eat the cost? Especially considering we can migrate our Bible purchase sources to home (we all know about child labor, defrauding the wage earner, slave wages, etc. in China anyway. That’s WHY those publishers are there in the first place. To cash in on that. We all know that.)

Have the Chinese make Bibles an exception.

We can still obtain our Bibles yet have the Chinese eat the cost (not the Americans).

Then by the time suppliers get changed (Taiwan, Mexico, or where ever, or as I suggested, right here at home) this will be a non-issue.

Why with you guys is it . . . that America always has to take the trade imbalance hit?
(And there ARE egregious trade imbalances with China isn’t there ralfy)?

You are going to bring back in the petrodollar. But as I said, America taking a trade imbalance hit on Bibles (and why not just admit there is an array of things in ADDITION TO BIBLES in the deal. But focusing on “Bibles”, can “play” a segment of voters sympathies that “bongs” etc. already have the anti-Trump manipulation game won) is not going to change the petrodollar status with the world.

The rest of your arguments–that it’s criticism of the trade war, that this is “fake news,” etc.–are all garbage.

No. YOUR arguments are garbage. Because you fail to take patterns into account.

It is Fake News.

Them running around with their hair on fire pretending they are worried about the Bible in a trade issue that hasn’t even occurred yet.

Also. I already said, I had no issue with religious publishers, as that is their niche. So you continuing to bring in religious news to support your view is irrelevant. I fully admit it is a story for them.

(You ignore the sensationalistic headlines on your own CNN OP too.)

But once you admit there are differences between a religious news service and CNN (and other secular anti-Trump hits–and FoxNews is not immune to anti-Trump reporting either. It is the best of a bad lot in the mainstream, but frequently pile on), your “objective reporting” argument continues to get exposed.

Or as soon as CNN etc. add in MANY import items (and not focus on Bibles), they lose the rhetorical effect. This would be unacceptable.

And you acknowledging that exposes the weakness of YOUR ignoring CNN etc. So you can’t admit that either.

Discussing these issues with you is a waste of time as you are doing nothing more than trolling.

That’s exactly what I was thinking about you ralfy.
A long time before this post in fact.

That’s it: I’m ignoring your posts from now on.

I am very good with that ralfy.

For all others, this CNN (etc.) non-story is more mainstream media fallout from their chronic Trump Derangement Syndrome.

And people who are willing to overlook two and a half years of virtually nightly CNN (etc.) reporting on a fake Russian Collusion narrative . . .
. . . just are not going to be able to see this.