Trump's Terrible Tariffs

Trump’s Terrible Tariffs will be a repeat of what other Presidents tried to do and have failed to “teach” the world that we will no longer pay for their imports. This Terrible Trump needs to learn from history before he boldly insults the world trade market like he boldly insults everyone that crosses his path. All three Presidents who dared to impose a trade war failed and drew back the trade restrictions quickly but not after they did big harms to our economy first. Donald read American History!!!

Today the Hero of the Stupid, Donald Trump signed a $50 billion dollar tariff on China. Tomorrow he plans to sign a tariff on steel and aluminum products. Together he will be creating a global trade war.  The always so confident buffoon he is thinks it is a war he can win despite the fact that any other President who tried this approach to fair trade failed and failed miserably and caused poverty to average Americans in the past.

In 1930 President Hubert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that introduced tariffs to the world markets. It imposed tariffs on roughly 30 thousand imported goods. He like Trump thought it would boost our economy since it was right after the great depression and lots of people needed manufacturing jobs. Canada led a retaliatory coalition with tariffs on United States exports. That hurt American exports by 60% that were already weakened by the depression. In 1932 Smoot, Hawley and Hoover lost their re-election. Can this break Trump and his already re-election hopes?

In 1934 the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was repealed. Yes, sensible lawmakers took that idea away but not before it was blamed for deepening the depression. It also created long lasting ties between Europe and the Soviet Union. Is Trump willing to destroy American commerce for the love of his Russian buddy? It then contributed to the rise of global fascism.

In 2002 George W. Bush imposed a Targeted Trade War. Bush imposed a 30% tax on foreign steel imports. The European Union filled unfair trade charges against the World Trade Organization for $2 billion dollars in retaliation. It ruined our steel industry because then no one wanted to buy our steel. Bush dropped his failed plan of tariffs in 2003. Studies suggest that his stupid tariff on steel may have cost America 200 thousand steel related jobs. Here we are 15 years later and trade with China is still a challenge. Practically everything we own is made in China. Our exports are about $130billion dollars yet we import about $506 billion dollars from China. Mr. Trump do you really want China to retaliate and charge America tariffs? Prices on everything we buy will rise before we could even try to make all the products we use from China. Does Trump even care about American products. The first thing he did once in office was to give himself branding deals in China for all the products he and his daughter have their name on and they are made in China so he won’t suffer at all.

Last year America imported $375 billion dollars more in products from China. In addition to that counterfeit goods, pirated software and theft of trade secrets could add up to $600 billion dollars. It is too early to know the consequences of Trump’s actions but we are already feeling the losses in the stock market and in our pensions. China will probably retaliate and they could cut off our exports in planes, cars and financial services. Boeing our plane producing company has lost $300 per share in just weeks. American farmers will probably be the next big loser since we export a lot of food. Nicholas Lardy a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a really smart guy, said, “ The higher price on steel will have a negative impact on other industries as well the price of inexpensive products like clothing and foot ware will impact prices at places like Wall-Mart.”

So don’t throw out your worn out protest shoes yet because it will cost more to buy a new pair. SIGH!!!