I’m sorry, I should have said:
the incentive for the country with the tariff is not to make a lower *priced* product.
Companies always have incentives to lower costs. What’s different is the incentive to lower prices in a tariff county.
If the price of the competitors’ product is artificially raised, there is less incentive to reduce prices because some competitors are at a price disadvantage. Government has put its thumb on the market scale.
The whole point of tariffs is to raise prices on some competitors. This means increasing costs for many companies and consumers.
It’s a bad thing when government increases its control.
Totally agree.