To be clear, the current tariff execution is reckless and poorly planned. But I hear a lot of total tariff opposition from the same people who demand we continue to escalate with China over control of Taiwan, up to a potential hot war.
So what’s the plan? Western economies were brought to their knees during just a momentary interruption in shipping during the pandemic. How do you wage a war with a country that does all of your manufacturing? China could defeat most western countries without firing a single shot, just by cutting off their access to Chinese exports.
If you don’t support tariffs to bring back manufacturing jobs domestically, how do you think we could make it through a war with our manufacturing partners? I can’t reconcile the two ideas, and I don’t understand how some of y’all are.
By providing subsidies, you make it cheaper to build things in the US, so people do. It’s the reason we have so much farming, even though it’d be cheaper to outsource that.
By shutting down international trade, we will build things in the US where it’s affordable, and where it’s not we just do without.
Point is, you won’t get an iPhone anymore. You likely won’t get a new car. The value of the dollar goes down and we get less. Maybe you’re ok with that, but I personally like my quality of life.
We still pay for subsidies. Those don’t come out of thin air. Better to nationalize, and much more efficient.