Did the stock market go down when Obama did his tariffs? This policy was just taken from Obama.
Are you referring to the tariffs on Chinese tires in 2009? If so, then you’re comparing apples to oranges. A tool such as tariffs in the hands of a child (Obama) as compared to being structured as part of Trump’s comprehensive economic policy via Wilbur Ross, is like comparing the use of military force under Reagan with Obama’s ineffectual (or worse) bombing missions.
The tariffs, which expired in 2012, did nothing to prevent China from continuing their exports, via 3rd party countries, a deficiency that is lacking in the proposal presented by Ross. In addition, the domestic producers still had little incentive to ramp up domestic production, because the Obama administration had done nothing to lower the cost of doing business for them.
In contrast, with the de-regulation and tax cuts of the Trump administration, there is every incentive for domestic producers to expand production to meet the greater demand rather than merely raising prices. The Obama tariffs only had the effect of allowing domestic producers to pad their profits with price increases for a brief period of time until the tariffs expired or were circumvented via 3rd party countries.
The truth lies in the details - something you have never been good at.
That said, market manipulation is always going on, whether for profits or political gains.