50 years of US presidential tariffs undone by last week's court ruling? Say hello to low cost Toyota monster pickups!

Photo above - This writer re-imagines herself as a proud Toyota T-1000 pickup truck owner, once those LBJ era Japanese truck tariffs are finally eliminated. (Screen shot courtesy of Mad Max Fury Road)

Let’s wind the clock back to December 1963. LBJ has just ascended to the White House, due to US political turmoil. One of his first acts? To impose a 25% tariff on Japanese pickup truck exports to America. It’s completely true – check out the link below.

The details are hilariously convoluted. This started as a trade war because France declared US hatched hens too affordable for French restaurants, and imposed tariffs to protect their farmers. Things quickly escalated to potato starch, brandy, and dextrin. You can’t make Wonder bread without destrin, apparently. Then the tariffs pivoted to pickup trucks, and Japan. 25% tariffs, from 1964 through 2024. Say hello to those UAW votes in the 1964 presidential election, President Johnson.

Are the LBJ tariffs illegal now too? Hope so. I’ve been hankering for a Toyota T-1000 with 15,000 pounds towing capacity for my ski boat. Screw you . . . we're from Texas!

Then there was the tariff on “certain sugars and blended syrups” by President Reagan. To make US farms more profitable. The 1984 election was coming up. Spoiler alert – Reagan defeats Walter Mondale in a landslide, 525 electoral votes to 13. This is why our Coca Cola uses US sourced corn syrup, and the rest of planet Earth uses actual sugar. If you want a cold refreshing coke with real sugar, you have to go to Mexico, or pay an upcharge to get the imported stuff. I would prefer real, full sugar coke while towing my ski-boat, thank you.

Okay . . . 1964 and 1983 are so ancient history. Nobody else has pulled this $hit recently, right?

Okay, so what if Biden imposed a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum? This was probably to keep America’s coca cola in 100% American aluminum cans. And to keep our Ford F150’s made from 100% American steel smelted in places like Bethlehem and Pittsburgh.

Think solar panels are too expensive? Say thanks to President Obama – he imposed a 30% tariff on imported ones. And a 35% tariff on Chinese tires, in case you thought you were going to get off cheap when it came to putting new rubber on your F150.

The MOST free-trade president was – drumroll – Bill Clinton. Who got us the NAFTA agreement, which teamsters and farmers really hated. America started to see a LOT more imports from Canada and Mexico after that. Perhaps the time is right for a president like Bill Clinton again? And a supreme court clarification on the legality of all those the tariffs imposed since 1963. Let's have a level playing field, please.

I really WOULD like a Toyota Pickup so big that it blocks out the sun, like my neighbor’s F150 Raptor riding high on 37-inch tires.

I’m just sayin’ . . .


Chicken tax - Wikipedia

Proclamation 5294 -- Import Quotas on Certain Sugar Containing Articles | Ronald Reagan

How U.S. Presidents Have Handled Tariffs: From Kennedy to Trump - No Labels