I’ve been reading up on the tariffs that were imposed during the Trump administration and I keep seeing mixed reviews about their effectiveness. On one hand, they seemed to protect certain domestic industries by making imported goods more expensive; on the other hand, there’s a lot of talk about higher prices for consumers and retaliatory measures from trading partners.
The thing is, these tariffs aren’t exactly popular among everyone. If we were to look back 1 year out, 2 years out, and even a few more years down the line, how will we actually know if this was a good move?
Surely there are some metrics or outcomes that can help us evaluate their success or failure. I guess it’s not as simple as checking stock market performance alone, although that’s probably part of it, right?
Is it primarily about looking at changes in trade balances with countries like China, or do we need to consider the broader economic impacts, such as job growth within certain industries? And how much weight should be given to the political ramifications, like strengthened relationships (or tensions) with trading partners?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what metrics or indicators would help determine whether these tariffs were indeed a beneficial strategy. Thanks in advance for any insights!
For the factory workers in the industrial heartland it will be good.
For the general population it will be bad.
The idea of manufacturing more, cutting budget deficit etc may be a good idea. The way they go about it with trade wars pissing off countries usually friendly to the US is dubios. The DOGE and internal politics does not seem much better but that is not really any of my business as a non American.
Also if you want to cut deficit you should fund the IRS more, not less.
Mexico was importing these car parts and then exporting the Truck back to USA. Because we Tariffed Mexico and Canada, the Mexico and Canadian factories are closing down.
Which is now closing down factories in the heartland of America.
Lose lose for everyone. Who is the winner when the singular Truck was being made across Mexico, USA AND Canada?? Tariffs have now ruined the price of these parts and consolidation efforts, so now everyone is losing their jobs.
So we should expect to see more manufacturing jobs? How long will they take to show up? What kind of products will they build?