Econ 101: a tariff on products from another country is not a penalty imposed on that country. It’s a penalty imposed on our own citizens who buy goods from that country.
Most mainstream economists, whether liberal or conservative, agree that tariffs do more harm than good to the country imposing the tariffs, which is supported by a lot of empirical evidence.
Trump of course is not using tariffs as an economic policy. He is using the *threat* of tariffs as a strategy to get the other countries to give the US more favorable terms.
But it’s an empty threat. Because if the other countries don’t give him what he wants, he has an incentive to back down and cancel the tariffs because they hurt his own country. And if he cancels what he threatened to do, his subsequent threats will not be credible.
Trump knows that backing down will make him look weak. So he doesn’t back down, and the country pays the price.
Whether you are conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, I don’t question your intelligence or your patriotism. There have been Republican and Democratic Presidents who listened carefully to experts, even experts who didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, and then made a careful, rational policy decision they believed was in the country’s best interest.
Trump is not one of them. His tariff threats are reckless and ill-advised. US consumers will pay more for imports and some US workers will lose their jobs. There are a lot of Republican politicians and Democratic politicians who would do a much better job with economic policy. I hope one of them becomes President soon.
