Make America Great Again

Donald Trump’s critics have heaped scorn on his calls for protective tariffs to deal with America’s widening trade imbalance and the resulting loss of higher–paying blue color jobs. Some have accused him of trying to turn back the clock in pursuit of a cheap populist ploy and have said that he simply refuses to acknowledge that America is now an information and service economy for which large trade deficits are the new normal. But voters are sensing that The Donald is right to sound alarm bells and that something radical needs to be done to revive manufacturing to make America great again. But his tariff solution is hardly the best medicine. To be honest, given the even worse solutions that are being offered by the left, Trump’s instincts may be preferable.

Ironically, in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the elimination of tariffs was a populist issue. A little more than a century later, the polls have reversed completely. Prior to the introduction of the income tax in 1913, tariffs were the Federal Government’s principal source of revenue. During the long and contentious campaign to enact the 16th Amendment (which allowed the government to tax incomes for the first time since the emergency Civil War-era 3% to 10% income tax), proponents argued that the passage of a “soak the rich” income tax would allow the government to repeal the tariffs and thereby transfer the tax burden from the working class, who paid the tariffs through higher prices on imports, to the ultra-wealthy, who were the sole target of the income tax as it was originally conceived, packaged and sold. competitive and our greater efficiency may even allow us to overcome the tariffs that other countries would likely impose on us in response. But slapping tariffs on imports, while doing nothing to improve the conditions for business efficiency, simply means that prices for American consumers will rise significantly, without sparking a revitalization of American manufacturing prowess. Don’t forget the global market contains over 7 billion consumers, the U.S. market just under 320 million. Insulating our manufacturers from this larger marketplace guarantees that we will never become globally competitive.

Tariffs or sales taxes will drive up the cost of goods for consumers, a fact that Trump seems to ignore. If he would acknowledge this issue, he could offer the counter argument that if we could couple tariffs with income tax relief that Americans would also have higher incomes to pay those higher prices. But even if incomes rise, higher prices will inevitably lead to less consumption and more savings, especially if we allow interest rates to be set by the free market rather than the Federal Reserve. More savings and less spending is exactly what we need if we want the capital to rebuild our industry. Protective tariffs alone will not work, especially when there is a little industry left to protect.

So instead of criticizing Trump for his misguided advocacy of tariffs as a panacea, we should at least give him credit for recognizing a serious problem that so many others ignore. The real criticism should be directed at those who would allow America to continue down this self-destructive path.

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