Donald Trump Stakes His Presidency and His Legacy on Tariffs

Trump: The Art of the Deal is a 1987 book credited to Donald J. Trump and journalist Tony Schwartz. (Wikipedia)

I have often said on the radio that Trump’s style is not my style.  He’s brash and abusive, but he gets things done.  He believes in tariffs, that they will make America rich again, and so he moved forward with them in total confidence.

It will take years to see if it all works out, but Trump doesn’t have years to wait.  Americans will need to see positive results soon, or…or what?

There are four reasons for tariffs that seem logical:

Reciprocals to even-up the playing field, to punish geo-political adversaries, to create negotiating tools, and to bring manufacturing back to America.

President Trump has gone beyond all this, tariffing both friend and foe.  If it works, he’s a genius and Republicans will be in power for a long time.  But if it doesn’t, the Democrats will destroy him in the mid-terms and beyond.

AUDIO:  Random Samplings of a Logical Mind

The case for tariffs.

Reasons for imposing tariffs are real.  It’s frustrating to see how other countries treat us, by imposing higher tariffs on us than we do on them.  What’s worse is that in certain markets – Japan and China come to mind – they set up roadblocks for American goods.

Video: “Cuomo” – Chris talks with Bill-O and Geraldo about the Trump tariffs.

This was shockingly brought home last week on a News Nation interview on “Cuomo.”  Chris Cuomo had a split screen up with Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera, the latter of whom had just returned from a vacation in Japan.  After Bill-O opined, Rivera said that while he was in Japan, he did not see a single American-made automobile on the streets.  Not one.

O’Reilly’s retort was that Geraldo ought to go on more vacations.  That one comment from Rivera opened my eyes to the fact that protectionism is alive and well across the pond, and they practice is far more that we do.  And that needs to stop.

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Of course, there’s sanctions on Russia, China, Iran and so on, and there’s the reciprocal thing, but both of these are simply negotiating tools to get other countries to stop doing things we don’t like – or vice versa.

The other big thing involves jobs and bringing them back to America so that the working class has somewhere to work.  This is especially crucial in segments of the economy that relate to American security.  It makes no sense to be totally dependent on China for pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics, Taiwan for computer chips, and a host of European and Asian countries for automobiles.

All of these things do not have to made in the USA, but we need the capacity here to make them.  I have never purchased a foreign-made car for my own use, but now I realize that even Chevrolets and Fords are not really American made.  I think cars, cellphones, pharmaceuticals, computer chips, weapons of war, and airplanes out to be made here, and that we ought not go below a certain percentage of these items that are 100 percent made here.

Video:  Liberation Day – Trump announces his new tariffs plan.

The case against tariffs.

There is another side.  First and foremost, when a rogue country like China has a faltering economy that is dependent on trade with America, and might collapse without it – how do they go to war with us?  The corollary to that is:  why not pick a war with America if there is no reason not to?  They’re subtle about it now because they can’t afford to have America pull back on trade.  What if we do?  The U.S.-China rivalry on the world stage will heat up and fast.

Second, and this is something I’ve said on the radio for decades: having goods come in that are of good quality, but far cheaper than we can made them here, is like having a special class of low-paid people to supply those of us who can’t live on those wages.  The crude way to put it is “slave labor.”  After all, why does it really matter where we get our kitchen utensils, toys and games, bicycles, furniture, and such items that are not strategic?  Why not concentrate more on things that we must have that no other country should be able to take away for any reason?

The third argument against tariffs concerns the way we treat our friends.  Let’s take Canada and Mexico, for example.  There are things the Trump administration would like Canada to do, such as paying more for its own defense into NATO, and dropping some tariffs on U.S. goods.  For Mexico, we obviously would like the Mexican government to stop the flow of illegal immigrants though their country, take on the drug cartels, and even-up trade.

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We need some electricity that comes from Canada and we need avocados from Mexico.  Why not sit down with the leaders of friendly countries and work it out?   After all, these countries need access to the American markets more that we need access to theirs.  And isn’t this what Trump’s United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is all about?  Perhaps it would be best to speak softly and carry a big stick.  Donald Trump is the master of the Art of the Deal.

The two-faced Democrats.

One item of hilarity has emerged since Trump announced the tariffs.  That is, videos of prominent Democrats, in prior years, railing against the unfairness of tariffs.  Nancy Pelosi, thirty years ago, practically made the case that Trump is making today.  But today, Trump is making the case, therefore Democrats are against it.

Video Flashback to 1996.  Nancy Pelosi saying saying what Trump is saying now.

Video Flashback to Trump’s first term and Chuck Schumer was for the American worker.

Video Flashback circa 2012, at the 2:35 mark, President Obama wants to level the playing field.

Video Flashback:  President Obama insists America MUST write the rules for global trade.

If Joe Biden had done this, Democrats would have praised him and explained what a brilliant mind old Joe had.  But the tables are turned. Conservative economists and pundits have always been suspicious of tariffs, labeling them a tax, and saying that taxing is what Democrats do. Trust me, if the stock market falters badly and consumer prices go through the ceiling, the Republican Party is in deep doodoo.

But we shall see. 

We don’t know what we don’t know, and it remains to been seen whether Trump ambitious and shoot-from-the-hip tariffs plan will work.  If it does, the Democrat Party is essentially dead.  If not, the Republicans will have to scramble and Trump will have to eat his words and swallow his pride.

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I’ll make a prediction:

Within two weeks of the date of this column, Trump will announce major changes, couched in the rhetoric that the tariffs worked and other countries have given in to his demands.  If I’m wrong, and these tariffs are permanent as they now stand, and as Trump has insisted, we are in uncharted waters.  I wish you and your 401(k) the best of luck!

Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter.  Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us.  Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley.

  Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site. 

Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.

This is a big, beautiful book!  Maybe the best book evah!  And I’ll stake my legacy on that!