One need not rely on experts to know tariffs are typically not a good policy. Going back to Adam Smith writing “The Wealth of Nations,” we know it is better to manufacture cheap commodities in areas that can make them cheaply so that wealthier nations can spend their wealth more productively. Adding tariffs historically disrupts that balance and often causes economic slowdowns.
President Donald Trump thinks the United States needs to rebuild its manufacturing capacity. In some cases that is true. We should, for national security reasons, be making microchips, weapons, planes, ships and pharmaceuticals in the United States. But we do not need to make everything.
Former President Joe Biden wanted coal miners to learn to code and transition to newer jobs. Donald Trump does not want to transition Americans to higher technical jobs, but to instead create…
