Trump, Tariffs, Trade—and a Taboo?

American Greatness ^ | 28 Apr, 2025 | Victor Davis Hanson

[MtnClimber]

Trump’s trade strategy aims to slash the U.S. deficit by forcing fairer deals with key partners—pushing reciprocity, not profiteering, to regain economic balance.

After only a hundred days, the Trump counterrevolution has made quite miraculous progress on the border, illegal immigration, cost-cutting, curbing the DEI/woke revolution, and a historic Ukrainian War settlement.

The pushback to this multifront effort from the left has been formidable, if not hysterical. The greatest fury mostly centers around Trump’s efforts to force U.S. trading partners to adopt either reciprocal or no tariffs while obeying international trading norms—an effort aimed at vastly reducing the U.S. trade deficit.

If Trump could cut a proverbial deal in the next 100 days that, say, cut the annual $1.2 trillion trade deficit in half, coupled with multitrillion-dollar foreign investments, then stocks and bonds would settle down.

Wall Street would go back to its traditional platitudes that the trade deficit then would be no higher than the 3-percent-of-GDP red line.

Stocks would then soar in anticipation of the other news of a continuation of tax cuts, more budgetary reductions, robust energy development, and further deregulation.

The U.S. has run a half-century of trade deficits. And now the red ink has climbed to nearly $1.2 trillion, the largest in history. Yet for all practical purposes, only a few entities account for most of an astronomical sum. And they all have corollary concerns to the U.S. that make their surpluses part of larger problems.

The administration can accurately talk about “70 nations wanting to deal.” But, in truth, if Trump were to settle with just China, Mexico, Canada, the EU, and the ten-nation Southeast Asian trading bloc (ASEAN), then the so-called trade wars would be over.

Start with our North American partners Mexico ($171.9 trillion surplus) and Canada ($63 trillion surplus)

---

TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: victordavishanson

[MtnClimber]

VDH ping

[Empire_of_Liberty]

Trump’s job is to clean up after the ‘Rats - so that there will be something to steal, again…

[kosciusko51]

Start with our North American partners Mexico ($171.9 trillion surplus) and Canada ($63 trillion surplus)

Both numbers should be billions, not trillions. He quotes the correct numbers later in the article.

[texas booster]

Ping! Out to the Victor Davis Hanson list

5. There may be one important taboo. Trump might curb talk of “revenue,” as if we can return to the pre-income tax age, prior to 1913, when federal revenue came largely from tariffs.

Long but well reasoned read by the great Prof Hanson.

FR Index of his articles: Victor Davis Hanson on FR

Town Hall: Victor Davis Hanson on Town Hall

American Greatness: Victor Davis Hanson on American Greatness

His website: Victor Davis Hanson

Please let me know if you want on or off this new VDH ping list.

As a reminder, Professor Hanson has asked that we do not post the full article of his writings. Thank you for following the link to finish his article.

Content created by the Center for American Greatness, Inc. is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a significant audience.

https://freerepublic.com/tag/victordavishanson/index

[Robert DeLong]

I was going to say, where the heck are those numbers coming from. Billions perhaps, but trillions, no way. Thanks for clearing that up. 🙂👍

[icclearly]

Just wondering if some of the smarter folks here can explain exactly how another country’s surplus is a bad thing for us? Please provide examples.

[Carry_Okie]

Wall Street would go back to its traditional platitudes that the trade deficit then would be no higher than the 3-percent-of-GDP red line.

Giving a frog a nice hot bath.

[LibertyFound]

This is not just a question of economics or bringing jobs home. The reality is that we are not free if we depend on China. This is a question of sovereignty and national security going back to George Washington:

“After the Revolution, George Washington wrote:

A free people ought not only to be armed, but . . . their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies . . .

Washington’s first major piece of legislation was the Tariff Act of 1789. Two years later, Alexander Hamilton published his Report on Manufactures which provided the U.S. with a blueprint for industrial development: the “American System”. For Hamilton, tariffs were not simply a tax, they were the key to unlocking America’s industrial potential.” see:

https://realspmorrison.substack.com/p/america-must-reindustrializetariffs

[Jacquerie]

Think about it.

[Jacquerie]

<>$63 billion in untaxed remittances that Mexico’s expatriates send home<>

A simple Executive Order could stop this and also encourage self-deportation.