Trump hates trumpets too?

Trump hates trumpets too?

Recent polling finds that 59 percent of Americans view tariffs unfavorably against just 29 percent favorable. Also 72 percent of Americans understand that tariffs raise prices while just three percent think they lower them (who are these people?). Another finds that 64 percent of Americans disapprove of how the president has handled tariffs.

Free Trade: The Consensus Is Growing

Yet President Trump persists in his trade war and its border taxes. Trump has been willy nilly and inconsistent. He has put higher tariffs on our allies than on our adversaries – creating adversaries out of our allies. He has imposed his border taxes on countries with which we run a trade surplus. He has grabbed at every straw his advisors can find to keep on the border taxes in the face of legal challenges and defeat. He makes exemptions for personal rather than economic reasons like taking the tariffs off diamonds after getting a watch encrusted with 300 diamonds from some merchants. He even imposes his border taxes in order to influence foreign elections – re: Brazil.

There is no logic except the president just likes to play god (with a small “g”). He says that he imposes his border taxes for national security reasons. Yet wouldn’t it make more sense to make those items as cheap as possible and to exempt them altogether? Taxing vital imports is just plain dumb – materials like steel, aluminum and copper should be border tax free. Yes, I know some would say that the American manufacturers of those products should be shielded from foreign competition. But why? Less competition means higher prices for American consumers and less incentives to improve efficiency. If they are in danger of being driven out of business, then the government can subsidize them. But the object should be to make those items vital to national security as cheap and plentiful as possible.

The latest absurdity in Trump’s border tax follies is that the administration is extending the 25% border tax on steel, aluminum and copper because of “national security” – of course. The Commerce Department actually lists the products covered by the extension. Included are “brass-wind musical instruments and parts and accessories thereof.” I kid you not. I guess the president’s trade lackeys Robert Lighthizer and Jamieson Greer must play the saxophone. Bryan Riley, Director of the free trade initiative at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, said “It’s not immediately clear why trumpets threaten to impair U.S. security.” Maybe the army’s supply of bugles was being threatened by Chinese knock-offs. (US Army bugles are exclusively made by Buglecraft, Inc. manufactured in Long Island City, NY. I don’t know if it imports its raw materials).

Isn’t it ironic that Trump would be imposing border taxes on trumpets? Maybe he is out to get the French. The border taxes are supposed to make US producers more attractive than foreign ones, but Conn-Selmer one of this country’s largest manufacturer of musical instruments has announced the closing of its facility that manufactures French horns and off-shoring production. The reason? The cost of importing materials and that the higher border taxes on copper, which is a major component of making brass, have made it more costly to build the instruments domestically.

One liability of all this nonsense has been the impact on young beginning musicians. The higher border taxes have caused Americans to buy fewer instruments. Musical instrument imports are down 20 percent since 2024. One observer notes that “Higher tariffs have raised prices and suppressed imports—particularly of instruments for beginners.”

But hey, it’s a small price to pay for the increase in national security. Right? Maybe Conn-Selmer should announce that it is changing the name of the French horn to the American horn and bringing out a commemorative Donald Trump-et. Don’t you think it is time to play taps on this nonsense?