Trump Proves Tariffs Work By Suspending Them
President Donald Trump unveiled the most advanced tariff strategy in economic history Tuesday, imposing taxes on imported goods until prices rise, temporarily removing one of those taxes, and claiming the resulting relief as proof that the tax was brilliant. Under the plan, as much as 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef may enter the United States without the usual out-of-quota tariff for 90 days, allowing consumers a brief encounter with affordable meat before the policy completes its scheduled migration beyond the midterm elections.
Trump described the move as a landmark demonstration that tariffs lower prices whenever they are not being collected. “This proves tariffs work incredibly well, because the minute you remove them, prices come down, and they could not come down unless I had first made them go up,” Trump said. “Nobody understood that before me. Economists used to think less tax meant lower prices, but I have shown it means the higher tax was working.” White House officials said the president’s theory had been reviewed by several advisers who understood that continued employment depended on finding it persuasive.
Republican senators Deb Fischer, Tim Sheehy, Pete Ricketts and Mike Rounds objected that cheaper foreign beef could undercut American ranchers and discourage efforts to rebuild the depleted domestic cattle herd. The administration dismissed those concerns as an obsolete interpretation of America First, a doctrine now understood to mean foreign beef first, American shoppers second, domestic ranchers third, and a presidential social-media post congratulating the president in every remaining position. Officials added that ranchers harmed by the policy should take comfort in knowing consumers may save money purchasing products that no longer come from them.
Republican lawmakers are expected to resolve the dispute through the party’s standard reconciliation process: praising Trump’s courage, condemning the consequences, declining to stop the policy and blaming Joe Biden for forcing conservatives to discover free trade shortly before an election. The White House said any rise in beef prices after the 90-day suspension will demonstrate the urgent need for another temporary suspension, while any decline will prove the original tariff succeeded. Tariffs therefore lower prices most effectively when they are removed.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.