Or, how about we DON'T! Seriously. Imposing punitive or even so-called "protective" tariffs on goods imported from other countries, which then provokes them into imposing retaliatory tariffs on goods exported from our own country, is a negative-sum game. In other words, it's a lose-lose proposition all around, shrinking GDP on all sides. And who actually pays for it all? Ultimately, we all do, as the higher costs inevitably get passed onto consumers.
A few seconds of Googling "Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act" should be enough to make even the numbest of numbskulls reconsider their appetite for tariffs and similar beggar-thy-neighbor policies. If this trade war continues, the best we can hope for is a bad case of stagflation, and it goes downhill from there. All the way down to full-blown depression.
Just like a few seconds of Googling "Recession of 1937" should be enough to make even the numbest of numbskulls reconsider whether fiscal austerity (*cough* DOGE *cough*) or monetary tightening from the FERAL Reserve is really such a wise idea. Spoiler alert: it really isn't.
No wonder Trump's two harshest critics lately have been......Chuck Dow and Edward Jones. And that's just a leading indicator.
P.S. It is entirely possible to have protectionism without tariffs or any other trade barriers, by the way.
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