Actually, since the beginning, infact before the beginning, Americans have been traders. American ships carried American goods and returned with goods the Colonists wanted and needed.
Jefferson went to war very early on to protect American global commerce.
The early tariffs were established mostly because there was little else to tax. They tried to tax whiskey and got a mini revolution as a reward.
Explain the connection between that and the Tariff Act of 1789 and revenue generation of the early republic? Answer: there is no connection.
No, he went to war to stop pirates from stealing American goods. Well our traders of today act much like the pirates that he went to war with.
Tariffs do not stop trade at all. But when you throw our doors wide open to our trading partners, but they throw up barriers for you, then you must take the bull by the horns and get it under control, or continue to decimate yourself as your trading partners profit.
No one is calling for the cessation of trading, just a fix to the vast imbalance we have given our trading partners for far too long.
If you would open your eyes to the reality of that, then you would see that is the case. President Trump said they can can eliminate our tariffs right now by eliminating their outright refusal of allowing our goods in their marketplace, or in cases where they allow our goods but place tariffs on our products, eliminate those.
Those are the trading conditions you are protecting and demanding we do nothing about it. That has been the policy for far too long, and this country has paid a heavy price as a result. No longer.