

Yeah, I mean I don’t feel any better than Trump if someone asks me about tariffs and I just say “THEY ARE BAD, OBVIOUSLY”. I don’t feel like that’s any better than Trump’s approach where he just says “THEY ARE GOOD”.
I want to know the supposed theory behind them, if any. If there isn’t one, that’s a big red flag. The few people I know in real life that thinks they are a good idea all seem to share the belief factories will pop up “soon” and no one will care about China anymore. I don’t get it, building factories doesn’t seem that easy. The last time the US mobilized that quickly was WW2, and I don’t think we are that serious this time around.
I think it’s going to be bad but I want to put a measuring stick against it instead of just saying “THEY ARE DUMB”.
I don’t think I worded my original post properly because I feel convinced already. I was just looking for a way to measure up the effects of this idea. If we are a country dependent on importing goods and we make them more expensive, it stands to reason that we either stop getting those goods (doesn’t seem easy…) OR we just deal with the price, and that doesn’t seem easy either.
I just thought this is odd… like if I wanted to propose a tax on bicycles, we could talk how many bicycles there are in the USA, if this would make sense, etc. but that’s an actual discussion. Most of the people in this thread are just asserting it’s a bad idea and either don’t know the “why” themselves, or just don’t want to say.