[RandFan]

This is terrific and the origin of the "America First" policy

40 years in the making

[kiryandil]

12:01 EST

The 20th Day of Trumpmas is here!

Shout it from the rooftops!

[cpdiii]

Tariffs are good if used to assure fair trade. Once fair trade is fair the tariffs go away. Tariffs also have a place in political diplomacy but will hurt both sides but is sometimes necessary.

Example: Brutal tariffs against Russia and Venezuela will increase the cost of petroleum worldwide but will perhaps insurer a safer and sane world. That is a good tariff.

[dennisw]

I started thinking about Japan and trade in the same 1988 onward time frame. I worked for Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot in 1992.
“Getting ripped off”, Trump has been using that slang for ages. And I love it!

Donald Trump is the second coming of Pat Buchanan. But kind of late! If Trump had been elected President in the year 2000, America would be 300% easier to set right. Instead, we got stupid Bush wars and the awful Kenyan Muslim Obama.

[Fedora]

China has been copying what Japan was doing then, which is the context of Trump’s China tariff policy.

[DannyTN]

Mine was sparked by:

• The Founding Father's advocacy of Tarriffs as taxes on foreigners wanting to sell into our markets.
• USA's success with high tariffs for it's first 180 years.
• Seeing almost every product in Walmart made in China.
• Knowing that manufacturing capability is one of the key factors to being able to win wars. (Thomas Jefferson paraphrased)

[nwrep]

How did we get so lucky to deserve such a great man? I am serious.

[Wuli]

One trade deal I would make with Japan, Korea and Germany - you get to sell or build cars in the U.S. only in proportion to how much of your market is buying U.S. cars. If the U.S. has only 1% of your car market, your automakers get no more than 1% of the U.S. market - reciprocity.