Just this Friday morning, the world was treated to a Trumpian Twitterstorm about his ill-considered, mismanaged trade war with China that was so profoundly dumb that it would surely have earned anyone who submitted it as a paper an F in an intro-to-economics course.
Once again he bragged about the tariffs he had imposed on China and that he had now increased them from 10 to “25% on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods & products” (the capitalizations are his…a subject for another column, perhaps one by a neuropathologist). Trump then said that the tariffs were “NOW being paid to the United States by China,” so that with the “over 100 Billion Dollars in Tariffs that we take in, we will buy agricultural products from our Great Farmers, in larger amounts than China ever did, and ship it to poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance.”
He went on to say that Tariffs will bring in FAR MORE wealth to our Country than even a phenomenal deal of the traditional kind. Also, much easier and quicker to do.” He concluded this particular tear through logic, sound economics, arithmetic and syntax with the assertion that “Tariffs will make our country MUCH STRONGER, not weaker. Just sit back and watch.”
As usual, Trump started with a lie. Higher tariffs are not now being paid to the U.S. That won’t happen for a few weeks, until goods shipped after the tariff hike make their way here.
Next, and most important, the tariffs are not being paid to the United States by China. The tariffs are being paid on Chinese goods purchased by American consumers and businesses. In other words, the money does not come from China. It comes from Americans. It is a new tax on Americans from the president who promised to cut taxes but has proven to be really bad at that too. Poorer Americans who often buy lower-priced Chinese manufactured goods such as shoes and clothes will end up being those hurt most, just as they were the ones to benefit least from the Trump-GOP tax cuts.
