President Donald Trump has done it again. Never one for subtlety, he has elected officials, the media, and international officials all talking about tariffs and trade, when it wasn’t on anyone’s mind 60 days ago.
Trump, who once proudly proclaimed that he was “elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” reminded us that he’s governing for the “forgotten” towns, workers, and families left behind in a shifting global economy – and to put America first. For decades, the “forgotten” economy has been changing, often for the worse. Many outsiders didn’t notice or shrugged.
Trump imposed tariffs against countless nations to get everyone’s attention and force a reset for many Americans. Seventy-five nations and counting have asked for immediate negotiations from Canada to Vietnam, Japan to Great Britain.
Indeed, Trump did it again. He may not follow the Wharton Business School model. But he usually gets the job done.
For years, while the overall national economy typically grew and the stock market climbed, not everyone was sharing in this success. More American factories closed, being replaced overseas, often in China. From underwear to cars, televisions to medicine, manufacturers kept moving overseas.
China has applied tariffs to keep our products out of their growing economy. They’ve become more powerful by stealing our technology and gaining a stranglehold over essential minerals in Africa that are essential to the new economy. Worse, almost no one was talking about the reality that our “allies” were also imposing tariffs, making it harder for our produce and cars, among other products, to be sold overseas.
Our factories closed in North Philadelphia, Coatesville, Reading, and across rural America. Meanwhile, China builds coal-fired electricity plants, and factories for iPhones and medicine to be sold in America.
Thought leaders marveled at our evolving economy and how we would lead the world in the creation and transfer of “information.” My conservative allies extolled the virtues of the theory of “free-trade” zones, making the case for America to lower tariffs, then challenge our allies. Republicans assured us that their theory would work out.
Democrats killed the workers and towns with faux kindness as factory workforces shrank, focusing on the symptoms, not the disease, and offering expanded unemployment benefits and job training. (Years before Hillary Clinton told those with “dirty jobs” to “learn how to code.”)
An unwitting alliance all working together, and factory workers and their towns paid the price.
So, Trump steps forward and changes the rules of the “game.” Democrats (and some Republicans) joined media members in their criticism of Trump’s tariffs. They accused Trump of causing chaos – ignoring the chaotic conditions in towns, factories, and families for decades. And almost no one cared.
Enter Trump’s tariffs.
Exhibit A: Trump’s international tariff poster board. Opponents pointed to the high tariffs Trump was imposing on the “right” column. Too few focused on the “left” column – what nations are doing to us.
It was as if Democrats, the media, and “free-market” Republicans all wanted to ignore what started this: the harms caused by high tariffs imposed on American goods, harming American workers.
The Democrats oppose Trump because 99.9% of Democratic politicians oppose everything he does. Plus, today’s Democratic party represents fewer people who make things, and more and more C-suite executives who invest in the stock market.
Some Republicans and conservative “thought-leaders” are opposed: they genuinely believe in free trade, pointing out that tariffs can lead to higher costs.
I’m a card-carrying conservative. I own an Adam Smith tie (father of “free markets”) and cut my “political teeth” volunteering for Ronald Reagan. The late U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp is my philosophical mentor. I get it. Truly.
But … President Trump is right for this moment, and he has earned the right to work out the problem.
In heaven and in a more perfect political world, we’ll have zero tariffs. Under Smith’s theory, each nation would produce what it does best, and then, we would all trade freely. Yes, it’s a sound theory and an admirable goal. But once one nation says it “needs” to protect one of its industries, one product, or one fruit, or once one nation becomes an adversary of another, it begins to fall apart.
In the real world, America needs to make its own medicine, medical supplies, technology, and military products. Our allies need to act like allies. We’ve grown dependent on China, as we tragically learned during COVID. America needs to produce more energy, strive to be energy independent, and an exporter to our allies.
To the Democrats, if you want us to believe that you care about workers, now’s your time to join the cause.
To my conservative friends, this is not an academic exercise: it’s reality. Despite its merits, this is similar to progressives trying to impose their ideology and not caring about the consequences.
The ideal should be free trade. But what we need now is fair trade – something that works on Wall Street and Main Street.
Yes, lower tariffs among friends are good. But it’s a two-way street. And among adversaries – well, it’s time to make things in America, again.
Nearly 40 years ago, President Reagan proclaimed: “I’ve always believed … on a level playing field, American workers can outcompete and beat the pants off anybody, anywhere.”
It might be a bumpy ride in the near term, but now everyone knows – from Shanghai to South Philadelphia – that Trump is fully-committed to making the “level playing field” finally happen.
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There is nothing free in free trade zones. In fact they are anything but free. Trade is no different than any other type of competition. It is ruthless and selfishly based. Criminal players abound in such zones.
Nixon was responsible for America having better relations with China. He would not be happy with how politicians have destroyed jobs, and put America at risk, by personally profiteering as a result of our improved relations. Nixon was a patriot. The Democratic political, elitist politicians are everything but. They market servitude for the masses and exceptions for themselves.
Donald Trump, in some ways, represents the second term Richard Nixon never experienced. Patriotism has returned and what Trump is doing to China is exactly what Nixon would have done had he had the opportunity. Nixon expected China, via trade, to become like America. And despite some of that happening there have also been unintended consequences. America has become more like China. The 2020 stolen election and the consequential Biden Administration has made that unpleasantly very apparent and became, ultimately, the reason why Donald Trump was reelected by American Patriots. Considering the election odds I often wonder if Richard Nixon, from wherever he is, played a role in ensuring that Donald Trump would be victorious.