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CDM/The Georgia Record has been hearing from Reagan-era Republicans, that they don't understand the Trump tariffs and don't like the 'bullying' of our neighbors, specifically Mexico and Canada.
This is a narrative that is being pushed by the still-powerful legacy media which most of these Americans primarily listen to.
There are several points here:
First, these two countries are not the Mexico and Canada Ronald Reagan had the pleasure of dealing with in the 1980s. Both have been infiltrated and captured by nefarious forces. The Mexicans -- the powerful organized crime drug cartels; the Canadians - the Chinese Communist Party. Both are working to weaken our nation.
Second, both are not conducting 'free trade'. Trump is right -- the U.S. has been subsidizing Canada for decades with very high tariffs sometimes as high as several hundred percent charged to U.S. consumers by Ottawa. Mexico is illegally allowing China to ship materials to Mexico, assemble them there, and avoid tariffs on Chinese products.
The 200%+ tariffs only kick in regarding Canada after quotas are hit negotiated under USMCA.
Becky Rasdall Vargas, senior vice president of trade and workforce policy at IDFA, said: “Frustratingly, the U.S. has never gotten close to exceeding our USMCA quotas because Canada has erected various protectionist measures that fly in the face of their trade obligations made under USMCA.”
Trump delayed tariffs on USMCA-compliant goods until Apr 2.
Trump affirmed the self-proclaimed “liberation day” on April 2, when he will impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that have assigned tariffs on U.S. goods as well as value-added taxes and other non-tariff trade barriers.
Trump simply wants to level the playing field against multiple vectors of protectionism.
He also wants to get their attention to stop the trafficking of Fentanyl which kills a hundred thousand Americans a year.
It is true, that in the America past, tariffs had been abused at times to protect certain industries; however, at this point in economic history, where America's manufacturing has been hollowed out over decades, that is exactly what President Trump and his team look to do.
Austrian economic voices despise tariffs and have been on a crusade against them ever since Trump returned to office. However, this ignores the lack of fair trade, and the weakness of American industry.
We cannot survive if we don't make anything and our supply chain is captured and vulnerable. Covid showed us that in stark colors.
Please watch Tucker Carlson's interview with Trump trade representative Robert Lighthizer at the link below. It is very good and explains Trump's tariff policy well.
According to Lighthizer, 'industrial policy' of other nations is the root of the problem, tariffs are the most visual part of that, but not all of it.
Tariffs are a blunt tool to achieve movement on other thorny problems like fentanyl.
