[Toddsterpatriot]

Tariffs tax stuff made outside the country that people here buy.

Exactly! We could put a tariff on foreign oil, raise the price to $200/bbl, wouldn't make the slightest change in domestic oil prices. Right?

[1rudeboy]

C'mon, man . . . don't you trust in the goodwill and patriotism of the American manufacturers who pay their lobbyists to petition out government for protection?

[Dr. Sivana]

Exactly! We could put a tariff on foreign oil, raise the price to $200/bbl, wouldn't make the slightest change in domestic oil prices. Right?

Oh, it would (and all substitute fuels like natural gas and ethanol, and anything that uses a lot of oil to produce or transport). But that would not be a tax. The original poster stated that protective tariffs tax "you".