XPost: alt.tv.pol-incorrect, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.liberalism XPost: alt.politics.usa

Critics of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs predict disaster, but they misunderstand the environment. The global trade arena is no gentle free-
market utopia; it is an oligopoly ruled by the U.S., China, and the EU — one that commands the better half of international trade, with the dollar giving the U.S. an edge in any commercial dispute.

The panic mongers in the conventional wisdom machine clutch their pearls, bemoaning the disruption of a fantasy world where every nation supposedly
plays on equal footing, bound by the same rules in a harmonious market equilibrium.

Instead, we’re caught in a dystopian reality where global productivity
declines are masked by a toxic mix of third-world quasi-slave labour and developed world excess liquidity, all underpinned by ballooning,
unsustainable debt destined for future generations. This, we were told, was
the path forward.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers blasted Trump’s plan as “ungrounded
in serious analysis”. Of course, Summers and his ilk had decades to ‘ground’ America’s trade policy in analysis, and the result was towns from Ohio to Michigan being ground into dust.

The globalists had their chance. Their model promised to lift all boats; instead, we got a few cruising yachts and a lot of stranded rafts. Trump’s tariffs are not a rejection of free trade, but an acknowledgment that our current system is anything but free. He’s ending the illusion of perfect competition and embracing the messy reality of monopoly power.

From MAGA Republicans to Bernie Bros, a wide swath of Americans has felt something was deeply wrong for years, even as experts told them everything
was fine. America’s national ethos was never about accumulating cheap, disposable imports, as Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent noted; rather, it was about securing a livelihood that promises upward mobility and stability.

As average American workers watch factories close and debt mount, cheap goods offer little solace for lost opportunities. Thus, you’ll understand the populist dismissal of elite pundits who decry Trump’s “dangerous” ideas. Perhaps the real danger is to their reputation if Trump’s bold approach works
— but that’s a risk we’re willing to take.

The administration acknowledges the tariffs might lead to a “one-time price adjustment,” a euphemism for short-term inflation; but this cost is an investment in America’s future. There’s a gritty, blue-collar realism to the whole concept: people will endure a pricier gadget or two if it means good
jobs return and communities thrive again.

Comparisons of Trump’s strategy to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930
further reveal his critics’ lack of grasp on reality: America is no longer a minor player in international trade as it was back then, but a dominant
player in a global buyers’ market — a position that allows it to dictate
trade terms.

The cries of impending recession assume that Americans will simply absorb higher costs and do nothing else, while foreign nations will smoothly adjust
to avoid these new tariffs. However, if the U.S. runs trade deficits with
many nations, it means their economies rely on access to America’s market for growth. If they shut America out in a knee-jerk reaction, they stand to lose
a huge customer. The U.S. is not a small island about to be isolated from the world.

Already, the effects Trump predicted are visible: dozens of nations are scrambling to negotiate, reconsider their tariffs, and maintain access to the American market. Factories poised to move abroad are rethinking their decisions, and announcements of foreign investments in the U.S. are
plentiful. This is the whole point – leveraging monopoly power to change behaviour.

One thing the critics got right: tariffs are indeed taxes that are passed on
to prices. However, prices also serve as signals, encouraging investors to invest in the U.S., where conditions have become comparatively more
favourable.

There’s the fear that countries might retaliate or abandon the U.S. But realistically, where else can they go? China? Well, you can bet Beijing will continue to enforce its own hefty tariffs and currency manipulations, playing hardball far more aggressively than Trump.

Furthermore, with higher U.S. tariffs, China will be compelled to shift its output to other markets, flooding them with cheap goods that could threaten local industries and jobs. This, in turn, increases the appeal for countries
to negotiate a deal with the U.S.

Let’s not forget, America holds a trump card: the dollar’s dominance as the world’s reserve currency in the global financial system. If tensions were to become truly ugly, the U.S. could wield tools from sanctions to currency interventions that other nations simply cannot match. While we hope it never comes to such extreme measures, this capability greatly enhances America’s strategic position.

Trump’s tariffs are not the beginning of a trade war but the end of an undeclared one that has disadvantaged American workers for decades. While it comes with its risks, the alternative – a continued slide into economic decay
– is a certainty decidedly too great to accept.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)