The tariffs are also supposed to generate revenue that will offset Trump’s tax cuts, which is also incompatible with those two already mutually exclusive goals
And that’s the real reason for the tariffs - creating the illusion that we can afford to cut taxes for billionaires.
It was never going to work to increase domestic production for the reason in OP’s meme.
Tariffs can be a component of a plan, but not the full plan itself. Direct subsidies and grants to businesses willing to take a risk on expanding will get new factories built in the States - pay them to build the factories.
Reliable, stable, predictable and ongoing tariffs would then keep those factories open sustainably even when they’re competing against factories in countries with worse labor laws, less regulation and concomitantly poorer citizens.
Tariffs can be a component of a plan, but not the full plan itself. Direct subsidies and grants to businesses willing to take a risk on expanding will get new factories built in the States - pay them to build the factories.
Which is exactly what Biden was doing with the CHIPS act, which Trump immediately undid.
The tariffs are also supposed to generate revenue that will offset Trump’s tax cuts, which is also incompatible with those two already mutually exclusive goals
And that’s the real reason for the tariffs - creating the illusion that we can afford to cut taxes for billionaires.
It was never going to work to increase domestic production for the reason in OP’s meme.
Tariffs can be a component of a plan, but not the full plan itself. Direct subsidies and grants to businesses willing to take a risk on expanding will get new factories built in the States - pay them to build the factories.
Reliable, stable, predictable and ongoing tariffs would then keep those factories open sustainably even when they’re competing against factories in countries with worse labor laws, less regulation and concomitantly poorer citizens.
Which is exactly what Biden was doing with the CHIPS act, which Trump immediately undid.