So tell me then did tarrifs save those middle class steel and textile workers? No they did not. In fact they absolutely destroyed entire middle class cities. Springfield Ohio, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Canton, Akron and the list goes on and on. You cannot undo history and history tells us exactly what tarrifs do....The Chinese won that round.
You have tunnel vision! You are blaming the collapse of the steel industry on tariffs alone. No mention of UNIONS! No mention of the basket full of Chinese tricks to undermine our industry, which were many and varied, not simply currency manipulation. China did to our steel industry exactly what Japan did to our plywood industry in the ‘50’s. The State of Washington thrived on its forestry and plywood industries. We wound up losing to Japan which bought our wood, shipped it to Japan, turned it into plywood, and shipped it back to the U.S., selling it for cheaper than we could manufacture it here.
You say history proves tariffs are bad. Please tell me what paid America’s bills during the early years and through the Civil War.
Textiles are not the norm for manufacturing. Textiles are very labor intensives where most manufacturing in general is not labor intensive at all. That is why Free Traitors™ love to use textiles as an example.