In 1985, I was invited to speak at an international trade conference at Georgetown University with then US Special Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter. At the time, the United States was experiencing trade deficits, and President Reagan was working to level the playing field. An example was how American farmers were being squeezed by Japan’s unfair trade practices.
Japan expected the US to import their cheaper automobiles at will, but they placed extreme duties (tariffs) on American agricultural products. This way, they could manipulate the trade balance through their mega trading companies. China does much the same, only they have taken it to a new level by manipulating currency value at America’s expense.
Everything was going smoothly, with speakers talking about the importance of free trade—how it ensures peace and provides jobs. Then it was my turn. I said free trade was fine, but fair trade is what we should be talking about. I suggested a very novel, at the time, schedule of tariffs for countries that place tariffs on US products. There was a collective gasp and much angry talk, especially from the Japanese delegation sitting right in front of me.
I used almost the exact language Trump did in his recent address to Congress. He said, “Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That’s reciprocal back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them.”
The response to Trump from those countries, the Marxist media, and the Democratic left was also a collective alarmist gasp, claiming tariffs will increase inflation, cost jobs etc., etc.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported in February that the US trade deficit was $98.4 billion in December, totaling $1.2 trillion in 2024. That is not fair trade. The biggest deficits are with China and Mexico.
While Democrats and the Marxist media are screaming the sky is falling on Trump’s tariffs, a comprehensive tariff study by the Atlanta Federal Reserve concludes otherwise. The Atlanta Fed study found that while tariffs may not spur long-lasting inflation, they may trigger a one-time increase in consumer prices of less than 1% on specific goods. The study suggests that the increase in costs may be so slight that companies may not pass them through to consumers in order to remain competitive.
Apart from the study, the effects of tariffs may be a short-term bump in prices, but over the long term, there is less dependence on imports, domestic job creation, and price stability. That’s what Trump means when he says farmers, for instance, need to bear with him for a while.
Other countries’ tariffs are taking advantage of America to the tune of a trillion dollars a year. Allowing this to continue for fear of trade wars or inflation is unfair to America and American workers. Stopping it with tariffs also stops the gravy train certain people receive from the excess in funds from tariff-rendering countries.
Deuteronomy 25:13 says, “You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.”
Tariffs even out the weights of trade. They are good for accountability. Fearmongering on tariffs is, say it with me… Stupidocrisy.
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Posted in The Daily Jot