The processes varied between the US and UK on the one hand and Germany on the other. The Anglo world went with rent extraction by the financial sector by any means possible, including the cannibalization and destruction of most of their own industrial base in the interest of the financial sector and large retailers. Germany elected to hold on to manufacturing by going for high priced items and depressing wages.
Through this process it is likely that relatively few people really understood what was happening, or if they grasped that there was a problem, such as Ross Perot did, they failed to get the details correct and were not able to prevail and change the CW. As always, the politicians' need for money clouded their understanding.
A common approach would still work for China, if not Germany. Impute a value to acceptable standards of social and environmental services and costs, put a tariff equal to those costs on goods from countries that do not meet those standards. Rebate that tariff to those countries only for purposes that serve those ends. But, practically, the financial sectors of the US, UK, and the financial-industrial hegemons in Germany would have to be brought to heel and wealth distribution trends would have to be reversed for these policies to work. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
A common approach would still work for China, if not Germany. Impute a value to acceptable standards of social and environmental services and costs, put a tariff equal to those costs on goods from countries that do not meet those standards. Rebate that tariff to those countries only for purposes that serve those ends. But, practically, the financial sectors of the US, UK, and the financial-industrial hegemons in Germany would have to be brought to heel and wealth distribution trends would have to be reversed for these policies to work.
Great minds think alike. This is the way that I think it best to go to. By placing a tax on the conditions of production, you avoid the issue of disparate treatment solely on the basis of country of origin. The issue is the conditions of production, regardless of country.
A lot of the competitive advantage of the Chinese comes from externalizing costs, this would bring those back in.
What we need is either a multilateral system that creates a common, basic standard. Or a bilateral system that allows countries to have a tax that removes the advantage created by firms not being forced to produce products under conditions that reflect the legal regime where they are sold. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
