I cannot debate economics or international relationships with you because you know much more than I do about those topics. With that said, I think there may be more to this story than increased costs for American consumers. I suspect Trump is more concerned about potential threats to our national security if vital international supply chains are disrupted by China (pharmaceuticals, semi-conductors, rare earth minerals, etc.) I also think he is more aware of the problems you have articulated than you give him credit for, but his style is shock-and-awe, braggadocio, and narcissistic so he doesn't see the need to explain himself. I also think the overused, unsupported phrase "negotiating tactic" is partly in play as well. His tariff implementation has been ragged and haphazard, but the guy has gotten good results in the past with apparently stupid tactics, so I am willing to wait and see what he gets with his current round of tomfoolery. Thanks for another excellent article, and for the chance to comment.
Great comment and I'll reply briefly: China is a serious adversary and even a threat and our policies must address that. I put China in its own category when it comes to the trade stuff and I did not make that distinction in my note.
I don't think this is actually a negotiating tactic for him. In most situations I'd default to that but he's been so aggressively anti-trade for so many years that I think he truly believes that trade is bad and he wants less of it. So he will take leverage and negotiate some deals and perhaps reduce some tariffs (and get tariffs reduced on our stuff, which will be great) but I don't think he'll ever remove the 10% tariffs on everything (with the possible exception of if the Supreme Court rules that he doesn't have the authority to impose them.)
His prior tariffs cost a lot of jobs, based on the best studies I've seen so I do NOT agree with the claim of good results in the past on this particular issue.
Thanks, Ross. I agree with your comment and stand corrected about Trump's previous tariffs. I was trying to imply that he had used unconventional methods to accomplish other, non-tariff results, but I did not make that clear.
I cannot debate economics or international relationships with you because you know much more than I do about those topics. With that said, I think there may be more to this story than increased costs for American consumers. I suspect Trump is more concerned about potential threats to our national security if vital international supply chains are disrupted by China (pharmaceuticals, semi-conductors, rare earth minerals, etc.) I also think he is more aware of the problems you have articulated than you give him credit for, but his style is shock-and-awe, braggadocio, and narcissistic so he doesn't see the need to explain himself. I also think the overused, unsupported phrase "negotiating tactic" is partly in play as well. His tariff implementation has been ragged and haphazard, but the guy has gotten good results in the past with apparently stupid tactics, so I am willing to wait and see what he gets with his current round of tomfoolery. Thanks for another excellent article, and for the chance to comment.
Great comment and I'll reply briefly: China is a serious adversary and even a threat and our policies must address that. I put China in its own category when it comes to the trade stuff and I did not make that distinction in my note.
I don't think this is actually a negotiating tactic for him. In most situations I'd default to that but he's been so aggressively anti-trade for so many years that I think he truly believes that trade is bad and he wants less of it. So he will take leverage and negotiate some deals and perhaps reduce some tariffs (and get tariffs reduced on our stuff, which will be great) but I don't think he'll ever remove the 10% tariffs on everything (with the possible exception of if the Supreme Court rules that he doesn't have the authority to impose them.)
His prior tariffs cost a lot of jobs, based on the best studies I've seen so I do NOT agree with the claim of good results in the past on this particular issue.
Thanks, Ross. I agree with your comment and stand corrected about Trump's previous tariffs. I was trying to imply that he had used unconventional methods to accomplish other, non-tariff results, but I did not make that clear.
yep, I knew what you meant. I think tariffs are sui generis for Trump. Actually I hope I'm wrong.
Sui generis - I had to look it up. Good one!