No New Tariffs: Told You So

I AM NO MORE A FAN OF TARIFFS THAN ANY OTHER RIGHT MINDED CONSERVATIVE IS. Tariffs are bad, we all know it. So, you would think when I first heard President Trump utter the word "tariffs," I would have immediately and rightly cringed.

No sir. Don't do it. PLEASE don't do it. You will destroy every single economic gain you have achieved.

But I paid close attention to what Trump was actually saying. You had to dig deeper into the context of Trump's language to fully understand what the aim was here.

President Trump did not want to impose tariffs. What he wanted to do was bring some of these other countries, whom with we have serious trade deficits with, to the table to negotiate. 

You have to start somewhere. And for him, the place to start was to simply say, "Look, we have the economic might and power and we also have a very strong and robust consumer base that you (these other countries) have a strong desire to be able to gain access to. You are going to want to work with us to level the playing field a little bit."

More dollars in the American economy by providing more jobs to Americans also ultimately offers an opportunity to create more buyers for foreign made goods.

I had a strong, sinking suspicion that we would not see the tariffs Trump was supposedly wanting to impose. That sinking suspicion is even more now after the USMCA announcement which will replace NAFTA provided the three congress's can ratify it, and the announcement that Trump will delay raising Chinese tariffs for 90 days while more negotiations are underway.

The tariffs aren't coming, folks. Not from what I can see. And this will only further bolster the economy and lay more groundwork for increasing American jobs, increasing access to these other countries' consumers, and so the wheels of commerce will turn.

Everybody involved will see a benefit here. Everybody.