No solution is possible without very very significant spending cuts!
Now that the discussion has stopped being serious and has degenerated into Yankee & Reb cats hissing at each other.
I have nothing more to say.
Reily:
"Now that the discussion has stopped being serious and has degenerated into Yankee & Reb cats hissing at each other.
I have nothing more to say." From Day One in 1789, tariffs were a major issue and on occasion became an existential threat to the nation -- i.e., the 1828 Tariff of Abominations.
For many years, tariffs have been a major point of debate over the causes of secession in 1860 and 1861.
Today US tariffs are controlled by treaties and laws, meaning major changes are not simple matters of "the stroke of a pen", but must be negotiated and approved, which usually takes many years.
The fundamental problems with free-but-not-necessarily-fair trade are:
- It has destroyed whole industries of US manufacturing, making the US economy today 2/3 in "services" such as health care, education & government and only 1/3 in the manufacture and sales of "things".
- "Free trade" has created enormous trade deficits, which weaken the US dollar and strengthen economies of potential enemies, like CCP China.
In the case of China especially, US trade deficits fueled extraordinary economic growth, to the level of a near-peer adversary with a rapidly modernizing military threatening our friends and allies in the Indo-Pacific region. - As demonstrated during Covid, US dependence on less than friendly actors for critical pharmaceuticals is beyond unacceptable.
Bottom line is 1) a long historical context for discussion on tariffs and
2) modern treaties like GATT make major changes far from simple matters.
So, in general we want the benefits of free trade, but be don't want to be taken advantage of.
If increased tariffs can help with that -- or if just a credible threat of increased tariffs -- then it's something to consider, imho.