Originally posted by: PJ Stroh
Trump either doesnt understand how tarriffs work - or he's lying about them because he's afraid to tell the truth.
Your guess is as good as mine as to which of those two it is. Neither is flattering to his profile.
Tarriffs are neither "good" nor "bad". They are a tool you can use to make sure fair trade rules are abided by. Frequently China does not abide by them so tariffs are fine in that sense. We should put a tariff on their steel right now as they are actively dumping it at a loss and putting pressure on our domestic steel companies.
"Universal tariffs' in the context of being punitive or just having a dick measuring contest is beyond stupid. He seems to have a really hard time making a rational point without taking it to some ridiculous extreme. He's a flawed man like that.
I rate tariffs as "bad," because in the entirety of human history, they've never worked as intended and have often boomeranged. What the proponents of tariffs ignore is that the targets of tariffs can retaliate. Then there's more retaliation, a trade war ensues, and eventually, all trade is choked off. Not a good result for anyone.
Insofar as the steel industry is concerned, if we can get steel in the same quantities and at lower than domestic prices from China, the Law of Comparative Advantage says that we shouldn't have a steel industry! We shouldn't manufacture things we can buy elsewhere for less than the cost of manufacture!
And yes, I know, what if them commies do this that or the other belch grunt snort. There's still a lot of Cold War thinking out there. The truth, whether anyone likes it or not, is that all countries are now interdependent. We can hurt China just as badly as they can hurt us, by restricting trade. It's in no one's interest to do so, which is why we have historically traded with even our ideological enemies.
