[BobbyJo]

> Trump's economic plan is to try and figure out how to on-shore the lowest paid factory jobs.

Not necessarily. Tariffs are a limited tax, in this case maxing out at 100%. Making soccer balls from China cost twice as much is not going to bridge the gap between viable and non-viable for onshore production. It really only bridges the gap where the off vs on shore savings are much closer, which tends to apply to more complex manufacturing processes, which incorporate more automation in the process, as cost gaps between developed and undeveloped countries tend to be greatest in the cost of labor. Automation is often cheaper in more developed countries, in fact.

Onshoring those kinds of jobs/infrastructure would provide a range of national security and economic benefits.

I genuinely don't understand how tariffs have become so poorly understood and divisive. Every argument about them I see framed seems either highly biased or pure misinformation, from both sides. They are not free tax money, but they also can have benefits for low and middle class people.

[bagels]

1/2 of the claimed benefits are just lies: China isn't going to be paying the tariffs, but maybe it will spark some limited increase in US manufacturing. The thing it will do is increase prices (inflation).

[BobbyJo]

Of course, the increase in manufacturing will be limited. Is there a policy that can increase it without limit?

I also think its disingenuous to call tariff induced price increases inflation. That's like calling a sales tax inflation. Maybe its technically correct, maybe not, but if your going to apply it here, make sure you are also applying it to carbon/gas taxes, environmental regulations (they also increase costs), and capital gains taxes (they lower asset supply).

[stcroixx]

Agree. Higher prices are a known predictable consequence and could be reversed by removing the tariff. You can't change a policy like that and immediately end inflation, that's an entirely different thing.

[bagels]

Most people don't care why the prices went up, they just want them to not go up. Distinction on definition really doesn't matter.

[BobbyJo]

It does. Inflation is a broad phenomenon, whereas tariffs mostly only affect targeted imported goods. We should all strive to be precise when discussing our opinions and preferences, lest we believe we disagree when we infact do not.