Agree except on tariffs. We already have thousands of tariffs on products that a “court” has determined are being dumped in the US market. There are too many negative consequences to expansive tariffs.
One possibility is to set up a tariff mirror system. Oh, China, putting a 50% tariff on American cars? Hey, here’s a 50% tariff on everything you export to the US - automatically.
Reagan used tariffs. I agree they shouldn’t be expansive, but we need to use everything in our arsenal to punish trade partners for cheating.
Timing and target is key. My problem with tariff raising is the TRUE economic condition of the nation. We know a lot of the data over the past 8 years has been fraudulent. In a scenario primed for growth, we could see benefits, as we did in the 80s. When the situation is the opposite, you can get a tipping point like Hawley-Smoot.
Newsflash: the USA collects 1% duty on all imported goods. We have a virtual open market for any country to dump on, which they do.