[Ramius]

...quit their jobs and get back into the sock-making and phony novelty vomit factories ...

LOL. Quite so. Tariffs are mainly a way of saying that our standard of living is too high to be able to support low-value work. So our standard of living must be lowered (by raising prices) so we can "compete" with low-value work.

[Ramius]

Tariffs are mainly a way of saying that our standard of living is too high to be able to support low-value work.

I meant to say it: Tariffs are mainly a way of saying that our standard of living is too high to be ~supported by~ low-value work.