Trump says that tariffs 'may' cause pain to Americans.

Is that justifiable, as long as they cause pain to people you don't like? It stikes me that masochism is a big part of MAGA.

I get that people see free international trade as a problem that has damaged America. I actually agree on that and I think it's damaged everywhere. It's allowed company CEOs to outsource jobs, undercut unions. It's led to de-industrialisation and a race to the bottom

Are tariffs the answer? Not like this. If you want to bring jobs back and re-industrialise a country, you would need an industrial strategy. As 'rival' companies are blocked off, you need domestic production in place to meet the demand with an alternative supply. You would want to build up US industries (through tax breaks/subsidies or whatever) so it's ready to go.

Imposing heavy tariffs and just leaving it to the market is a recipe for chaos. It's an extremely crude, inefficient and brutal way of solving a problem. Prices will rise, people will face layoffs and it will take a few years for the market to re-adjust. At best; At worst, all this pain will be for no advantage.

The chaos will be doubled because the coming trade war will hit anyone exporting to Mexico and Canada. In addition, what of the manufacturing supply chains that cross borders? To state the obvious, this really did need a plan!

Trump's tariffs are a crude solution to a complicated problem. They will bigly cost Americans and their neighbours. It's bad that your computer has stopped worker, so then hit it with a stick.

LMNtal · 22-25, M

I'm not sure what the tariffs were supposed to have accomplished last time. Defenders say they didn't cause inflation last time, so they won't this time, but pre-pandemic was a very different economic environment than now. I'm not sure that will be the case this time. I think building up US industry is a good thing, as well as cutting back on reliance on outsourced labor. But people aren't going to appreciate this effort to do so if it results in higher consumer prices. Wanting prices to go down is a major reason many people voted for Trump in the first place. 🤷🏼‍♂

Reason10 · 70-79, M

@LMNtal I'm not sure what the tariffs were supposed to have accomplished last time. Defenders say they didn't cause inflation last time, so they won't this time, but pre-pandemic was a very different economic environment than now
A legitimate point of view. Now for the facts:

1. Trump was using the tariffs in his first term to stop China from ripping this country off and stealing intellectual property. It worked pretty well. In fact it gave America the best economy of the 21st Century. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/new-economic-comeback-president-trump-breaks-70-year-record/

NEW: Economic Comeback Under President Trump Breaks 70-Year Record

https://www.heritage.org/markets-and-finance/heritage-explains/the-trump-economy

2. The ONLY thing that slowed down the Trump miracle was China committing an act of WAR by sending a biological weapon to our shores.
What's worse, the TRAITOR Saddam Hussein Obama PAID for the Wuhan lab that released that viruse.

https://www.ibtimes.sg/photo-obama-fauci-melinda-gates-visiting-wuhan-lab-2015-heres-truth-48438

sree251 · 41-45, M

Are tariffs the answer? Not like this. If you want to bring jobs back and re-industrialise a country, you would need an industrial strategy. As 'rival' companies are blocked off, you need domestic production in place to meet the demand with an alternative supply. You would want to build up US industries (through tax breaks/subsidies or whatever) so it's ready to go.

Trump's tarriff strategy is building a wall to block import of goods into the USA by American companies (i,e, Apple, Tesla, HP, Ford, GM, etc.) offshoring manufacturing abroad. This will compel those same companies to figure a way to get China to set up industrial parks in the US to make those goods on American soil instead of screwing the US thru NAFTA by shipping goods into America from their industrial parks in Canada and Mexico.