Sure the debt levels are high...but its self inflicted. Instead of tariffs, why don’t we make it cheaper to produce domestic oil and beat the Saudis at their own game?
Example - remember the Deepwater Horizon that had the oil spill? Why do you think this rig (and others) are so far out and in such deep water? Why don’t we use more of the much cheaper jack up type rigs? Well, the answer is the entire state of Florida (and perhaps Alabama) have restricted shallow water drilling off their coasts. With the swipe of a pen, these artificial restrictions could be removed...and we could delay going down the dark tariff road.
And remember ANWR? Every time it comes up, we are told it will take ‘ten years’ to get any oil out of it. In fact, I remember hearing that...10 years ago. Another swipe of a pen, and a relatively cheap US oil source opens up...again helping us beat the Saudis at their own game.
Then there’s all the federal land where oil could be taken from...again one signature opens it up.
I don’t like the idea of simultaneously stunting the growth of our own energy industry, while putting tariffs on imports. Energy = money = energy. That tariff would effectively prop of the price of just about every product that uses energy to be manufactured or shipped - including products we export, and actually harming us industry/farming.
You will NEVER be able to produce cheaper than the Saudis can, no matter what we do. Their marginal cost is hilariously small. That’s why they are so able to swing the market. Oil transportation there is cheap and the geography made drilling much cheaper there too. We can’t compete with that no matter what we do.
And I remember ANWR in the 80’s. I used the same argument. As for self-inflicted, you can’t SELL that much equity to finance this, debt WAS NECESSARY. That part of your argument is just silly. It’s just as much a national interest as it is a corporate one.
If you want cheaper fuel, do away with the ethanol requirement.