UNDERSTANDING TRADE AND TARIFFS

Because political actions affect both producers and consumers, it is crucially important for individuals to understand that tariffs are another name for taxes on producers and consumers of certain classes of goods.

What is a tariff?   

A tariff is a politically-imposed tax on imported foreign goods that make it more expensive for domestic producers and consumers to purchase foreign goods. 

Who gets the money?

Because a tariff is a tax, the revenue accrues to the benefit of the taxing authority and the money flows into the general fund to be spent according to government whim.

The folly of responding to foreign tariffs ...

Because a tariff is a tax on domestic producers and consumers, it would be idiotic to respond to another nation that is imposing taxes on its own citizens by imposing tariffs on your producers and consumers -- in effect punishing your citizens for the actions of another country. The end result is higher prices, fewer jobs, and a lower standard of living.

Understanding the bogosity of "balance of trade." 

This is a bogus issue easily illustrated by our purchase of oil from Saudi Arabia. We benefit from the oil but do not compel the Saudis to purchase a similar amount of goods from the United States and punishing American producers and consumers by taxing for their purchase and use of Saudi-derived gasoline. 

Understanding the politics ...

With over 12,000 tariffs on American goods, we can only conclude that the special interests are behind the tariffs and taxes imposed on the American people. 

Harmonization? 

To see which industries are protected, you may wish to visit the Tariff Databases at the United States International Trade Commission website, USITC Tariff Database Interactive Quick lookup which contains the current version of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 

IT DOESN'T WORK.

Historically, we have had three Republican Presidents impose tariffs, former presidents Hoover, Nixon, and Bush, and all attempts led to failures to regulate trade and penalties on the American people. Unfortunately, our current president, Donald Trump, is ill-educated and poorly read and, in spite of economic advisors, believes that punishing the American public on behalf of special interests will somehow penalize China and our other trading partners -- insanity. 

SUICIDE: THE END RESULT OF USING TAXES ON AMERICAN PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS TO PUNISH OTHER NATIONS WHO ENGAGE IN THE THEFT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, CURRENCY MANIPULATION, AND DUMPING (SELLING GOODS BELOW PRODUCTION COSTS TO GAIN MARKET SHARE AND DESTROY COMPETITION.

Are you wondering, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT GENERAL MILLS (06/12/21)

JUNE 12, 2021 — OFFICE CLOSURES

The company’s reorganization continues with closures of its Epic Provisions’ offices in Austin, Texas, and Annie's Homegrown’s office in Berkeley, California.

The company reiterated that staff cuts are likely to heavily impact the company's headquarters, which could see up to 20% of its workforce permanently laid off.

JUNE 5, 2021 — ORGANIZATIONAL REALIGNMENT AND 700 - 800 LAYOFFS

The company has announced layoff plans that include 700 to 800 U.S. and Canadian jobs and 500 to 600 international positions citing the post-pandemic purchasing behaviors of consumers. The layoffs will a realignment in business units and a reduction in force among the headquarters staff.

According to CEO, Jeff Harmening, "I know this isn't easy and that there are real-world personal impacts in us making this shift. And last week was especially hard as we shared that reshaping our organization meant that many of our colleagues will be leaving General Mills. I also want to be transparent: there are more hard decisions yet to come. Please know, none of these decisions are made lightly — and we are striving to do all of this quickly and respectfully."

A company spokesperson added, "We are making organizational changes to ensure General Mills continues its momentum. The goal of this initiative is to free up resources from parts of our organization and redeploy them in more growth-focused areas, such as digital, data & technology, e-commerce, strategic revenue management, and other capabilities that are critical to our future success."

The company anticipates reduced revenues as consumers consume less prepared breakfast foods experienced in lockdowns and limited shopping opportunities and return to more normal purchasing behaviors.

JULY 6, 2018 — Orignal post…

Golden Valley, Minnesota-based General Mills is currently implementing its 2017 restructuring plan leading to mass layoffs.

According to General Mills Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening. “In the third quarter of fiscal 2017, we approved restructuring actions designed to better align our organizational structure with our strategic initiatives. This action will affect approximately 600 positions and we expect to incur approximately $76 million of net expenses relating to these actions, all of which will be cash. We have recorded $1.4 million of restructuring charges in the nine-month period ended February 25, 2018, relating to these actions. We recorded $73.1 million of restructuring charges in the third quarter of fiscal 2017. We expect these actions to be completed by the end of fiscal 2018.” Many of the layoffs have already occurred, but there is no guarantee that additional layoffs will not occur.  

Harmening continues, "Fiscal 2018 represented an important first step in returning our business to sustainable topline growth. We made significant progress toward competing more effectively this year, with strong innovation, marketing, and in-store execution driving positive organic sales growth in each of our last three quarters. And we moved to reshape our portfolio for future growth with the acquisition of Blue Buffalo, a fast-growing, highly profitable business that is leading the transformation of the U.S. pet food category. While our full-year profit results fell short of our initial plans, we finished the year delivering growth in sales, margins, profit, and EPS in the fourth quarter."

It appears that the changing habits of consumers is resulting in a significant reduction in traditional breakfast products and snacks. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that General Mills will continue to shed products, plants, and employees to redeploy savings into products with greater upside. 

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT DEAN FOODS (UPDATED)

APRIL 3, 2020 — CLOSING LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY BRANCH WITH 38 LAYOFFS

It appears that the Louisville, Kentucky branch was not included in bankruptcy sale of assets to the Dairy Farmers of America and will be closed by April 30, 2020. Layoffs will commence on April 16, 2020. Layoffs include field execution and field service representatives, senior area sales representatives, distribution managers, shipping and warehouse workers, order pickers and plant maintenance mechanics, and other support personnel.

FEBRUARY 18, 2020 — DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA OFFERS TO BUY DEAN FOODS FOR $425 MILLION

With few options left for the largest milk producer, Dean Foods, the Dairy Farmers of America announced that it has offered to buy Dean Foods for $425 million pending the approval of the Court and the absence of a better offer. The Department of Justice would also have to agree to the sale.

NOVEMBER 12, 2019 DEAN FOODS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY — CITES DECLINE IN MILK SALES.

Dean Foods has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy citing the loss of its major customer Walmart and changing consumer tastes which see fewer people drinking milk and milk products.

Dean Foods CEO Eric Berigause has noted, “Despite our best efforts to make our business more agile and cost-efficient, we continue to be impacted by a challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption.”

The company is considering a sale to a marketing cooperative owned by thousands of farmers and known as the Dairy Farmers of America.

In any event, look for additional restructuring, cost cutting, and reductions in headcount.

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 -- MAYFIELD DAIRY CLOSES

Mayfield Dairy, located in Braselton, Georgia is closing its doors and laying off 100 workers. There was no comment from Dean Foods which is in the process of implementing an enterprise-wide cost productivity plan.  

As has been previously reported, Dean has also shuttered Garelick Farms in Lynn, Massachusetts with the loss of 300 jobs. 

Original Post... 

Changing consumer milk-buying patterns, increased competition, and the loss of a major contract is forcing Dallas, Texas-based Dean Foods, one of the largest dairy companies in the world, to respond with a major restructuring that will lay off hundreds of workers, shutter facilities, and shed hundreds of independent milk suppliers.

Published reports have Dean shutting down seven processing plants in seven states in the next months, with plants located in Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. The latest plants to close are Country Fresh in Livonia, Michigan, Meadow Brook Dairy in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Garelick Farms in Lynn, Massachusetts. 

Not only are consumers drinking 28% less milk, but Dean lost a major contract to provide private-label milk to Walmart, the worlds largest grocer. Walmart is vertically integrating their supply chain to lower costs and become a more effective competitor in the grocery space that now includes Amazon and several foreign private-label operations such as Aldi and Trader Joes. Walmart will operate its own state-of-the-art, large-scale dairy processing facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana that will serve hundreds of  Walmart and Sam’s Club locations in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Northern Kentucky. 

Dean Food’s CEO Ralph Scozzafava in announcing Dean’s First Quarter (2018) results ...

“As we move forward in 2018, we are focused on executing our commercial agenda and cost productivity initiatives that will drive our strategic plan. We have been successful in driving early results in the administrative area against our enterprise-wide productivity plan with more work to be done. We will now begin the next phase by right-sizing our network to better match volume. We will incur transitory costs as the execution of our plans will lag the exit of specific customer volume and have firm plans in place to remove the fixed costs from our system within this year. We are also implementing plans to mitigate expected headwinds in non-dairy input costs while executing our strategic initiatives.” 

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?