| I agree with some part of what you are saying, but tariffs are a miserably blunt instrument. Think of the supply chain of something immensely complex like the Boeing 787, which has, quite literally, millions of parts (including LCD screens). Many if not most of those parts are imported. If there are tariffs on imports, either: 1. Boeing will pay tariffs, increasing the cost of each plane. Great for Airbus, bad for Boeing. 2. The parts are sourced locally instead. These parts will invariably be more expensive, as if there were cheaper local options, they would have been sourced locally before. Again, Boeing planes get more expensive, great for airbus, bad for Boeing. 3. Boeing, to avoid raising prices and giving market share to airbus, decides to move manufacturing outside the US. What applies here for Boeing, is also going to apply to Tesla, Caterpillar, and hundreds of other companies. Tariffs create incentives to source locally, but they simultaneously create incentives to manufacture abroad. It is a very thin tightrope to walk and I haven't seen any evidence that Washington can. On the topic of national security: “When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.” I'm far less concerned about a war breaking out between two countries with healthy trade relations and cultural exchange. Do we want China to be our enemy? Why? |