[Brian Griffin]

I’m more in favor of balanced trade by sector, such as with the long-standing US/Canadian auto agreement of my youth.

[Alberta's Child]

One of things that has made tariffs less useful over time has been the growing complexity of products and their associated supply chains. Tariffs on lumber, tea, sugar and grain are "easy" to manage. Tariffs on Boeing aircraft and Toyota SUVs are a whole different story.

I was at a trade conference last year where the auto industry was the subject of one presentation. According to the guy giving the presentation, a vehicle produced by a domestic auto manufacturer in the Midwest contains raw materials and assembled components that cross the borders between the U.S., Canada and Mexico literally dozens of times before the finished product rolls off the assembly line.

Even a well-intentioned tariff policy can seriously harm industries right here in the U.S. A steel or aluminum tariff, for example, protects the steel and aluminum industries in the U.S. -- but at the expense of all the U.S. industries that BUY these metals.

[MrEdd]

I am for going back to financing the government principally through tarrifs and scrapping personal income tax altogether.