Trump’s stupid tariffs

Trump’s stupid tariffs

I was interviewed on a local radio talk show about Trump’s tariffs. I talked about what the consequences were for the US, Canada and Mexico of a 25 percent tariff. Trump also imposed only a 10% tariff on China. What happened to that 60% Chinese tariff Donald? I thought it a bit strange to put a higher tariff on our allies and a lower one on our biggest adversary. The host asked what economists favored the tariffs. I said that I did not know of any – except those who were on Trump’s payroll. I pointed out that my University of Georgia economics tutor, Phil Gramm along with Larry Summers had written a letter to Trump asking him not to impose the tariffs. Gramm is on the right while Summers is on the left. Of course, Trump has been told all this since he first spouted off about the “beauty” of tariffs. In so do, he is ignoring the advice of leading economists and ignoring history. Right after I signed off the interview a rabid Trump supporter called in defending Trump and calling me a Trump hater and a leftist. When the host asked the caller where he got his data to refute me he said “the Bible”. I’m now searching for the gospel that supports imposing tariffs on your friends.

It is not clear what Trump is trying to accomplish. He says it is about fentanyl and illegals. He’s lying. The Canadians have little to do with either. Trump could have gotten the Mexican government to help in lessening the flow of both to our southern borders and increased border security along the Rio Grande. But no. Its tariffs instead. If fentanyl were the motivating reason then he would have imposed a 100% tariff on China and not a measly 10%. None of this makes any sense. Trump says of Canada that we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their oil and we can build their cars and trucks in Detroit. But even Trump knows that if we cut Canadian trade to zero, those industries won’t just materialize overnight in the US and when they do, they will be more expensive that what comes from Canada making the American consumer poorer.

I guess we don’t need the Mexican autos, trucks and parts either. In 2023, Mexico supplied 63 percent of U.S. vegetable imports and 47 percent of U.S. fruit and nut imports. So I guess we don’t need those either. Bye bye Modelo, bye bye avocados – I am no guacamole fan so it will be no big loss to me.

But seriously what is Trump trying to accomplish? I think he is trying to isolate America and build a wall around it. I also think that he has this hangup on trade deficits and wants all trading partners to buy dollar for dollar from America what we import from their country. I guess he doesn’t realize that our economy is a lot wealthier than that of any of our trading partners.

The two states that trade most with Canada are Michigan and Illinois. Texas trades more with Mexico than any other state. Surely you would expect republicans from both states to oppose the tariffs. But hardly a peep from them. Of course the senators for Michigan and Illinois are democrats and the squad member Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit said “Working class families are already struggling with the high cost of living and unaffordable groceries. More than half of our fruits and vegetables come from Canada and Mexico.” Wow! If Trump can turn Tlaib into a free trader then maybe there is hope for her after all. What about Texas? Hardly nothing from their senators or their governor. Ted Cruz has been especially meek about criticizing Trump. Texas’ other senator John Cornyn called the tariffs as “potentially problematic.” The only outspoken critic on the republican side has been Kentucky’s Rand Paul who said that tariffs are taxes and Trumps’ tariffs would cause prices to rise.

Trump is no Ronald Reagan who once said “Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets. I recognize … the inescapable conclusion that all of history has taught: The freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations.” Once conservatives aligned with Reagan. Today they are afraid of Trump. Yet you know that if Trump is for something then the democrats will be against it. Sure enough Trump has turned the democrats into free traders. Ron Wyden, Tammy Baldwin, Jeanne Shaheen and others have come out against Trump’s tariffs. Baldwin says in part “The tariffs the President announced today will force Wisconsin families to pay the price. Industries where people grow things and make things – like Wisconsin’s iconic farming and manufacturing sectors – are going to be crushed by this. Families across the country are going to be paying more out of their wallets from the gas pump and the grocery store – and it will only get worse when retaliation hits.” Shaheen says “Putting far-reaching tariffs on our neighbors and close trading partners is going to spike costs for our families, businesses and workers. It’s a fact that hardworking American consumers and small businesses will be forced to foot the bill of the President’s price hikes, not foreign countries. “Because of this misguided, politically motivated action, the cost of everything from cars and gas to housing and groceries will increase—and Americans struggling to make ends meet will be hit the hardest. While that might not matter to Donald Trump and his entourage of billionaires, it matters deeply to the people in my state.” Wyden said that that blanket, arbitrary 25 percent tariffs would immediately hammer working Americans with higher prices, while accomplishing little.

So Trump has succeeded in turning democrats into free traders. Further evidence that someone in Washington is reading my blog is that the democrats are introducing a bill to require the president to get congressional approval for the imposition of new tariffs. I have said in the past that the presidential power to impose tariffs should be curbed. Now expect the republicans who control both the House and the Senate to be put in the embarrassing position of having to oppose a bill that they favor, because they fear the wrath of Trump.

These tariffs are stupid. Look for the republicans to lose the House in 2026.