To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Observercast

Tariff Protections Have A Hollow Ring

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Last week U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that tariff talks with Chinese trade officials were to start over the weekend.

Hmmm, that’s a different story than we had heard from President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly said negotiations were underway. And, just as often he declared Chinese tariff talks progressing, the Chinese denied that any talks were taking place.

On April 22, Trump said, “We’re doing fine with China.” Next day, he said “Everything’s active” when asked about China.

Trade talks began Saturday in Switzerland. [They reached a 90-day truce, not a deal.]

Trump lying? Well, he did open his mouth. It is an unhappy world when evil Chinese commies [and they are evil] demonstrate more credibility than the president of the USA.

The Chinese talks concern Trump’s trade war against the world. He has been slapping tariffs on our trading partners as illiberally as he lathers orange makeup across his face.

And despite centuries of evidence and the warnings from modern executives, Trump still cannot grasp the bedrock fact of tariffs: the consumers pay the freight. Companies paying higher prices on imported goods recoup those costs as the products enter the marketplace. Tariffs make imported goods more expensive, but not to the country involved.

Last week, Trump called the trade agreement with the United Kingdom reached last week “full and comprehensive,” saying it “will cement the relationship” between the two countries “for many years to come.”

Conservative economist Joel Griffith posted: “Tripling our tariffs to 10% on UK imports is hardly a win for the American people … This so-called trade deal is a multi-billion $ tax hike.”

Trump’s bellicose, bullying blather aside, the purpose of tariffs is to protect nascent industries in one’s own country. But the GOP’s once-sainted Ronald Reagan oversaw the outsourcing of American manufacturing during his presidency – and was rewarded with a $2 million “speaking tour” by the Japanese beneficiaries of his actions.

Trump alleges that his tariffs will encourage corporations to invest in plants in the U.S., despite the overwhelming costs of building manufacturing plants and the higher living wages American workers would require – if not reduced to beggary by Republican economics. There was a reason those companies left the U.S.

On April 4, Jasmine Cui of NBC News detailed the difficulty:

“Data shows a fraction of people in the United States are employed by farms and factories compared with decades past, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with most now in service jobs such as software, finance and health care. And experts say focusing on domestic goods production could cost consumers while undermining America’s growing advantage in the knowledge economy.

“Even with unlimited funding and political will, it takes years to re-skill a labor force and rebuild infrastructure. Formal trade apprenticeships typically require four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And Intel estimates building semiconductor fabrication plants takes three to four years to complete.”

Intel’s semiconductor plants will have little effect on long-gone manufacturing jobs, nor will other technology and AI projects that the White House touted April 30. These investments will do nothing to offset tariffs on car parts, lumber, food and even flowers, as folks were warned as Mother’s Day approached.

And if the obstacles Cui cited are not daunting enough, she adds: “Policy uncertainty is another major barrier. Companies hesitate to make long-term investments when trade policies could change within months or less.” Nothing in recent world economics has been as uncertain as Trump’s tariff flip-flopping.

University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolters told MSNBC last week:

“We have tariffs, then we don’t. Then we’re on a pause. Then we’re not. Then we’re going to make deals. And, actually, we’re not going to make deals – ‘I’m just going to say a new number.’”

He said that neither people nor corporations can construct meaningful budgets under current, chaotic economic conditions.

University of Colorado economist Richard Mansfield told Cui that companies “won’t even start trying to hire and train people until they are convinced that there are permanent tariffs.” Finding alternate suppliers and raising prices were the more likely outcomes, he said.

Gary Edmondson
Gary Edmondson
Gary Edmondson, of Duncan, OK, was a small town newspaperman. He also served as an editor/author for educational filmstrips and videos. An environmentalist, poet, sports historian, philosopher, he is secretary of Southwest Oklahoma Progressives. He is chair of the Stevens County Democratic Party.