But if this tariff takes effect, it will cost more jobs in this country than it creates, and not by a narrow margin, either."
Trump's opening gambit is never his final position. What starts out as a tariff is in reality an invitation to come to the negotiating table. If his opening stance seems drastic, that is by design because its severity insures that your opponent will be motivated to seek relief. He clearly is a student of Sun Tzu and believes in always leaving his opponent an honorable route of retreat. So the ideal outcome of the negotiations also must include leaving to the opponent some small victory they can show to the folks back home to support their claim that they didn't get raped by Trump. The net result of engineering a "Win-Win" business deal is the cultivation of a trading partner who is eager to deal with him again.
Damn well put.
Meanwhile, the producer of the tarrifed material must bitch and moan for local consumption.
Having been warned for many months, any capable government should already have a plan for the certain to come negotiating encounter with the Trump government. Bitching and moaning to the presstitutes is certain to be part of the plan