3 Myths About Tariffs
Last month, President Donald Trump proudly announced, “Liberation Day!…The day American industry was reborn!”
Reborn because of his tariffs, which he called, “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”
This is just wrong.
The first time he was president, Trump raised tariffs on steel. That helped American steelmakers. They hired 1,000 more workers. Yippee.
But more American companies make things out of steel. They were hurt. The result: America lost about 75,000 jobs.
Gain a thousand jobs, lose 75,000. Doesn’t sound like “liberation” to me.
Former President Joe Biden didn’t learn the lesson. He increased Trump’s tariffs.
That’s Myth 1: Tariffs protect American jobs.
Myth 2: We need tariffs because America runs trade deficits with other countries.
We do run deficits. Our trade deficit with China so far this year is more than $70 billion.
So what? I run a trade deficit with my supermarket. I give them money. They never give me money.
That’s fine. It’s freedom. The economy sorts it out.
There’s nothing bad about a trade deficit or good about a surplus. America ran a trade surplus during the Great Depression.
Myth 3: We need tariffs because global trade hollowed out America’s manufacturing base.
I hear that all the time, from polit
Article from Reason.com
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