Trump is doing what he does best, negotiating. Often times the threat will bring adversaries to the table which is what you want. For far too long our trade agreements have benefited other countries while simultaneously hurting our country.
The fact that Harley Davidson has to buy some parts from foreign suppliers, while regrettable it is still far better than this country not producing motorcycles at all.
After 4 years Harley Davidson itself requested the tariff be suspended.
"We're profitable again. We're recapitalized. We're diversified. We don't need any more help," said Vaughn L. Beals, the Milwaukee-based company's chairman and chief executive, explaining the request to the United States International Trade Commission to terminate tariffs on large Japanese motorcycles.
While you think Reagan made a mistake, I believe he did the right thing.
But yes, no one is perfect. It still does not change the facts, and that the same thing people criticize Trump for ignore the fact that Reagan did the very same thing. It did not cause a war or even hurt America as the "Never Trump" crowd claim Trump doing the same will now cause. Instead it gave the company an opportunity to become competitive again.
“Instead it gave the company an opportunity to become competitive again.”
This is what “free traders” forget. If we allow foreign producers to destroy domestic industries via dumping in an effort to corner a market, those industries cannot come back quickly. You cannot compete if you no longer have a product to enter into said competition.
Personally, I don’t favor tariffs that simply dump money into the government black hole at the cost of American consumers. I favor something much more restrictive — ie, capping the total unit volume and dollar value of imports on any product to 15%-20% of the US market. I see no reason why we should allow foreign producers — operating under different laws, taxes, subsidies, and philosophies — to systematically kill off ANY American industry.
Every industry we have lost has only added millions more to the welfare rolls and trillions to our debt, not to mention all the social problems that result from perpetually underemployed working class men. Having “cheap stuff” on the shelves of Walmart has turned out to be way too expensive in other ways.