It’s preposterous. There’s no problem that’s getting addressed with this solution, this is a solution in search of some problem.
See this page in the PDF
The Case for Free Trade
CHART 2
Total U.S. Industrial Production
INDEX 2017=100 120
100
80
60
40
20
1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
SOURCE: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “Industrial Production: Total Index,” https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/INDPRO (accessed March 2, 2023). & heritage.org
Federal Reserve research shows that the tariffs have cost about 75,000 manufacturing jobs while creating only about 1,000 jobs in the steel industry—not including the effects of the retaliatory tariffs described above.® Higher steel prices added an average of $250 to the price of new cars, and larger trucks—the vehicle of choice in rural America—were hit even more dramatically.*?
Trade is generally a win-win for both participants. Tariffs are a lose-lose-lose game, with the tariff raiser losing affordable goods, the tariff target losing exports, and the tariff raiser losing again from retaliatory tariffs. Tariffs also have an additional overlooked hidden cost: Companies redirect resources to dodge tariffs by redesigning products, switching to more expensive suppliers, using lower-quality materials, and lobbying. This might be good for lawyers, but it is bad for the economy. These resources could have been used instead to make a better product more cheaply.