The claim that tariffs are inherently misguided and inevitably harmful does not stand up to scrutiny, especially when it comes to U.S. trade with China
Donald Trump is back—and so is the tariff. “It’s a beautiful word, isn’t it?” the president quipped before the joint session of Congress on Tuesday—so beautiful that he referenced tariffs 17 more times in his address. In the short time since his second inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump has imposed—and sometimes walked back or temporarily suspended—tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, and declared a policy of tit-for-tat “reciprocity” or retaliation for any foreign tariffs on American exports that are higher than U.S. tariffs on imports. And he has justified tariffs with multiple rationales, ranging from protecting or reshoring defense-critical American industries to pressuring America’s neighbors to take action to reduce the cross-border flow of illegal immigrants and drugs like fentanyl. In fact, he told members of Congress, tariffs were “about protecting the soul of our country.”
The chaotic and inconsistent nature of Trump’s second-term policy to date can be criticized. But when it comes to tariffs as a tool of economic statecraft in general, the gap between establishment rhetoric and actual government practice is big enough to drive a Chinese EV through.
Fellow Democrats, the party needs to rethink all the anti-tariff absolutism. I’m a Rust Belt Democrat from swingy Western PA—where lousy trade deals like NAFTA stripped us for parts. Democrats need to break free from the zombie horde of neoliberal economists who think tariffs…
— Congressman Chris Deluzio (@RepDeluzio) March 7, 2025
Canada uses them, nearly all nations do. In Canada they typically protect the politically favoured and are not objectively implemented to serve the common good.
h/t XC
