It is hard to get straight news about tariffs and trade. Currently, there is consternation over President Trump’s stated intention to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. As usual, we will have to wait and see what happens.
While the press loves to talk “trade war” when Trump is in office, we pointed out here that customs duties received by the federal government were higher under the Biden administration than under Trump’s. Do you remember hyperbolic “trade war” headlines when Biden was (allegedly) in office? I don’t, either.
And Stephen Moore’s Unleash Prosperity Hotline reminds us that U.S. tariffs are among the lowest in the world:
Trump has said many times that the goal of his tariff policy is to see that the U.S. is treated fairly in world trade. I see no reason to doubt his intent, and no reason to get hysterical over his current moves on steel and aluminum.
All of that said, we do need an “America First” trade policy with respect to strategic materials. We cannot continue to outsource our national security to China, as we have been doing, shamefully, for some years. If our security demands a U.S. steel industry–or, to take another instance, an adequate U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity–then tariffs are likely a necessary element of such a strategy.
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