After just penning the observation that Canada is the biggest exporter of steel and aluminum to the US and suggesting that Trump with his related tariffs was acting on his anti-NAFTA agent, Trump has basically acknowledged tariffs are his weapon for forcing the renegotiation of NAFTA on US terms.
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Kudos for Speaker Ryan pushing back on Trump's economically-illiterate tariff threat. Let's point out that Bush's failed steel tariff over a decade ago didn't realize the sought-after economic payoff.
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The lack of fiscal discipline during the Trump Presidency makes it clear #MAGA stand for "Make America Greece Again".
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"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - Santayana. The Smoot-Hawley tariffs exacerbated the Great Depression. Workers and farmers, who would allegedly benefit from the intervention, found their fortunes worsening, which contributed to the disastrous 1932 election.. Canada, one of our biggest trading partners, retaliated by raising tariffs on about a third of popular American imports and further developed ex-US trading partnerships. No, Trump, trade wars aren't easy to win; In fact, US economic growth boomed in the post-WWII era under largely unilateral reduction in tariffs. Trump doesn't have a clue that trade deficits imply capital surpluses, i.e., net investments in the US economy. Exports are a price we pay to get access to resources, components and other goods and services which benefit the American economy in cost management and global competition.
