Trump doesn't know (or at least care) what he's talking about (again). His proposed tariffs are primarily going to hurt our poor, our manufacturing, and our closest allies. Europe's already working out deals without us because we're now untrustworthy. And China, unlike what Trump claims, is mostly benefiting from the chaos.
Tariffs are a regressive tax. Trump has tried to claim that tariffs are a way in which the U.S. government can “charge a country” for imported their goods. But tariffs do not do that. They are a tax on U.S. consumers who buy imported goods...
Trump has bragged about “many Billions of Dollars” that the tariffs would bring into U.S. coffers. Those taxes disproportionately hurt poor consumers, however. The next time Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro claims that tariffs help low-income Americans, understand that he is lying.
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The United States, in violating the rules of the game, guarantees retaliation. The Trump administration is relying on national security provisions of the 1962 Trade Act to impose its tariffs on aluminum and steel. The national security logic is risible in the extreme, especially since these tariffs are disproportionately focused on U.S. allies...