Okay, let’s crunch the numbers, assuming a 50% tariff, as it was for most goods in the beginning.
The USD value of all goods and services imported into the US in 2013 was $2,770,400,000,000. Let’s say $2.77 trillion.
50% of that would be $1.385 trillion, assuming all exporters could afford to continue to export to the US. If so, that is less than the current (2013) US budget of $2.74 trillion.
On the strongly plus side, most exporters would be unable to sell in the US for 50% more, so would no longer export to the US. This would require that the US rebuild much of its industry to provide us with the goods and services we wanted.
In turn, our export industries would be wiped out because foreign nations would no longer be able to afford our goods. The US would probably have enormous inflation.
The bottom line is that it might be good for the US in the long term, but it would be very painful to us to get to a new state of economic equilibrium. So it would have to be planned very methodically.
The foreigners are not buying our stuff now due either to we don't make it anymore or it is tariff'ed by them already(other nations). So this part of your argument holds no water. The rest is ok but the economic stimulus of rebuilding our industries would be like WWII econnomically. It would be fabulous.