Trump’s Strategic Tariff Use

Are tariffs destructive to both the U.S. economy as well as a threat to global trade in general?

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in support of farmers and ranchers with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue (3rd L) in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on May 23, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The mainstream media, and much of academia thinks America’s tariffs against Chinese products are very bad policy and worthy of harsh and continuous criticism and alarm.

But that’s not necessarily so.

Tariffs Aren’t Always Destructive

Unfortunately, it’s regarded as “common knowledge” that tariffs are invariably destructive and are the cause of strife and recessions. The infamous Smoot-Halley Tariffs of 1930 are typically viewed as a contributing factor to the severity of the Great Depression, and even the rise of Hitler and National Socialism in Germany. But the case of the former is certainly not as clear cut as some would have you believe, and the latter is simply absurd.