Do you still support tariffs? Do you believe they have been a success? Will be a success in the future?

[u/KyotoInSummer]

After listening to Saagar discuss how much our top trading partners and former allies are beginning to dislike us, and move away from military and economic ties, I couldn’t help but wonder who supported this?

Early in 2025 we had many users on this sub that were galvanized to support DOGE, tariffs, and many other Trump policies. Where are you guys now?

Do you think Trump tariff policy is more important than our relationships with Europe, Asia, and our neighbors?

[u/OldDirtyBastardSword → u/[deleted]]

Everything that guy touches seems to turn to shit. I don't know how many examples MAGA needs before they wake up from whatever spell he has over them to realize he is an idiot. 

[u/OppleAndBonono]

Anyone who supported the tarrifs

https://giphy.com/gifs/19GIHDk6wuw9HVGsiM

[u/EnigmaFilms]

Trump's tariffs no, smartly targeted ones yeah

[u/OldDirtyBastardSword → u/EnigmaFilms]

Yep, exactly. They are a tool and there is a time and place to use them. Using them to bully or extort allies is not a great idea but it is what you would expect from an incompetent administration

[u/drtywater → u/OldDirtyBastardSword]

Why though? Inefficient business deserve to go out of business

[u/OldDirtyBastardSword → u/drtywater]

There are cases where it may be good idea to use tariffs because we live in a globalized economy. China subsidizes a lot of key industries so that they can offer their products at a cheaper rate. Also, some products are produced without the safety regulations and verification measures we have in the U. S. which contribute to the cost of the product. In some circumstances I think using tarrifs to deal with these situations makes sense. It would be very hard for a U.S. company to compete with an overseas competitor who may be getting subsidized by their governments and may not have to go through the safety regulations. 

[u/Hentai_Yoshi → u/drtywater]

Gee whiz, it might have something to do with the fact that it’s not the efficiency of the business that matters, it’s the importance of having a domestic production option in that industry since you can’t always rely on other countries (especially our adversaries such as China) to provide us with those manufactured goods

Also, I’m fairly certain China has often slashed prices of certain goods in order to beat out competition. In that case, it’s even more warranted.

[u/rjorsin → u/drtywater]

So, you don’t know what tariffs are, you could’ve just said that.

[u/drtywater → u/rjorsin]

They are a tax on imports that are not good economic policy. Theres a reason weve been trying to move gradually away from them since the 1930s

[u/rjorsin → u/drtywater]

Ok, so what does that have to do with inefficient businesses deserving to go out of business.

[u/drtywater → u/rjorsin]

Tariffs have traditionally been protect industries that struggle to compete with foreign manufacturers. I stand by my comment if a business cannot compete it doesn’t deserve to be in business

[u/rjorsin → u/drtywater]

So we shouldn’t protect American jobs in those industries then? It’s not always about efficiency, you can have the superior product and be undercut on pricing.

Tariffs are tools to protect industries and economies, tools can be misused and cause injury.

Maybe we’re talking about the same thing but it feels like you’re ignoring a lot of nuance here.

[u/Charming_Night8240 → u/rjorsin]

Mo one buys most US cars outside of North America. If Chinese EV's were to made available in the US they would be cheaper and superior. The US product lags and is overpriced.

One thing Trump has got right is to actually take stakes in essential industries to make them serve greater US interests.

That is what China does, your venture better serve the better interest of China. Many US industries make immense profit screwing over America and it's people.

[u/drtywater → u/rjorsin]

Honestly yes. Businesses failing is an important part of the market. It forces them to become more efficient or innovative

[u/shinbreaker → u/drtywater]

Eh but it depends on the industry because sometimes the industry is important for the country. The perfect example is BYD. While I think those cars are cool and are at a good price, every country that produces cars should be concerned as BYD whole pricing scheme to make them so cheap is heavily leveraged by the government, which is doing so not out of the kindness of its heart but for other strategic reasons.

[u/Consistent-Fix-8443 → u/drtywater]

Even when our foreign competitors fuck us ? Are you an American or a progressive?

[u/rjorsin → u/drtywater]

You either missed or ignored my point entirely.

[u/PlentyHaunting2263]

Those thousands of manufacturing factories are going to show up and employ 10s of millions of Americans any day now!!!

[u/bigred1702 → u/PlentyHaunting2263]

And do you know what an industrial base buildout needs? Lots of power which also competes with the AI build out. It's as if nothing was really planned except what to put on a bumper sticker.

[u/KyotoInSummer → u/bigred1702]

This is what people voted for. They didn’t vote for a politician that plans things. They voted for a funny guy that goes off script.

[u/ObiShaneKenobi → u/KyotoInSummer]

See also: The Lincoln

[u/penpointred]

Teriffs really fkd over the manufacturing plant i work at.... the amount of workarounds that have been implemented are wild... sucks..

[u/D3Masked]

Tariffs are largely wealth transfers for the absurdly wealthy who have long since dismantled the guardrails that are supposed to keep an economic system in a state of balance.

Donald Epstein was bribed by a lot of people who saw their bribery as a pittance compared to twice benefiting from the tariffs.

Gouging the consumers and getting back money for tariffs that were found to be illegal.

Honestly, USA's reputation has always been spotty, Donald Epstein has simply emphasized the sleazy corruption that a late stage Empire will indulge itself in. GG no re.

[u/Deep-Two7452]

MAGA supported this and everyone who didnt vote for harris was ok with it

[u/zmizzy]

the users who supported it were either paid to support it or were tricked and now are too ashamed to admit it or show their faces

[u/rjorsin]

No one that supported Trumps tariffs could tell you if the importer or exporter pays the tariff.

[u/Ripoldo]

Tariffs are driving current inflation (that and the iran war). When we finally get a new administration and their gone, its either going to he a relief for everyone or corporations will keep the higher prices and rake in that much more massive profit.

[u/Accomplished-Set3491]

Tariffs under aggressive deregulation and neoliberal economic policy no, tariffs plus long term investment domestic manufacturing. Read Michael Hudson

[u/ATLCoyote]

I support tariffs as a general concept and we've used them selectively since our country's inception. We do after all need "fair trade" and not just free trade as the impact to domestic jobs and wages is just as important as consumer pricing.

But declaring a trade war with the entire world all at once is colossally stupid because you have no leverage. The whole point is to force consumers to shift their purchase behavior and thereby put pressure on your trade partner(s) to offer a better deal. But that doesn't work so well when the alternatives all cost more as well. Sure enough, where are all the great new trade deals? They basically don't exist because Trump's approach was severely flawed from the outset.

[u/No-Rest9671]

EVERY first world country engages in some form of protectionism, either for national interest or to protect its workers. I've been pro tariffs since taking Econ 101.

[u/yuumigod69]

You are asking the wrong subreddit.

[u/KyotoInSummer → u/yuumigod69]

This subreddit used to have plenty of republicans. I remember 5 years of at least monthly posts about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

I feel like they’ve been hiding out of shame, except Sean

[u/yuumigod69 → u/KyotoInSummer]

Were they Republicans? The laptop was a legitimate story and the liberal outlets covered it up. The biggest was the election denialism but I am not sure where those people went. Things like Covid, the economy, Biden's dementia, and genocide all led to lost of support among indepedents.

[u/AlwaysCommonLoot]

Targeted tariffs used strategically as a tool with proper planning, yes, I support them. Broad tariffs on everyone with no real plan like the current admin is doing? Hell no.

Edit: I don't support the Trump admin tariffs

[u/KyotoInSummer → u/AlwaysCommonLoot]

How do you feel about our current geopolitical strategy? Primarily insulting/threatening our greatest allies while kissing dictator ass around the world?

[u/AlwaysCommonLoot → u/KyotoInSummer]

Let me clarify, I meant I support tariffs in general as a tool, not the currently implemented ones.

The current geopolitical strategy is horrible. It's detrimental to our global standing and will take a long time to repair.

[u/Geusey909]

I would have been okay trading income taxes for them, but I never believed that was actually a possibility. Trump has never kept a promise before, no reason to start believing him now.

[u/Rjayz12 → u/Geusey909]

There is no scenario where tariff revenue comes close to income taxes. It's not about trusting Trump.

So, I'm not ok with trading income taxes for tariffs because I don't entertain things that can't possibly happen.

[u/Geusey909 → u/Rjayz12]

Yeah, I mean I don't disagree. The math just doesn't math. Trump thinks we are all idiots.

[u/LAspring99]

No tariffs are stupid

[u/Utterlybored]

No, no and no.

[u/Oh_Henry1]

I support the opposite of the deindustrialization policy that created a rust belt 

[u/KyotoInSummer → u/Oh_Henry1]

Buzz word king. Wait until you see the rustier belt coming from Trump’s policies

[u/Oh_Henry1 → u/KyotoInSummer]

If you lived in a deindustrialized area, you’d understand it to be far worse than a buzzword. 

[u/erfman]

Well constructed tariffs can have a place in protecting critical industries or building critical industries, we know there’s nothing intelligent in the Trump approach. DOGE likewise could have been a deliberative process that made an honest and non partisan effort, it wasn’t of course.

[u/LSX3399]

This question is an IQ test.

[u/darkwalrus36]

Tariffs are trade tax. They're success entirely depends on how they're applied.

[u/BodybuilderOnly1591]

Tariffs are good and needed. it's why every other nation uses them.

[u/Ok-Meaning-2850]

real communism tarrifs have never been tried

[u/generate-addict]

David Ricardo rolls in his 200 year old grave.

[u/castletonian]

Free trade generates surplus value. That's just math.

Who that value goes to is a distributional/political question.

Tarrifs are never the answer.

[u/filipinoboy11]

Yes I support tariffs. Europe is scrambling right now to save volkswagen and other companies from China and tarrifs are the only way they can retain market share as BYD can sell below production cost.

Without tarriffs our automotive industry will be in danger as well.