Tariffs are at the center of former President Donald Trump’s economic plan. He wants to put across-the-board 60% tariffs on everything from China and 10%-20% on everything else from the rest of the world. It’s an extreme trade policy that he wants to use to generate revenue to cut taxes. But how would they work?

  • oxjox@lemmy.mlOP
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    15 days ago

    I’ve been a little surprised by the commentary around Trump’s planned tariffs, with some “economists” saying they can’t explain why he would impose them. It’s like everyone has forgotten why tariffs exist at all. That’s not to say it’s a good thing or a bad thing but I’m disheartened that we’re not taking this opportunity to educate ourselves. It feels to me like people are playing stupid just to make Trump look bad.

    I would suggest that if you’re following some organization who’s only intent on bashing Trump’s import tax and not bothering to explain what a tariff does, that you stop following that organization as a reputable news source.

    I say this as someone who’s shocked that any American would ever consider Trump as president (then or now) and as someone who is fed up with the bullshit that fills our media and social feeds. We are all getting dumber.

    Edit: So far, these comments are doing a decent job enforcing what I’m seeing. People don’t care about facts, only their own bullshit. Please don’t vote or comment on this post unless you’ve watched the video. That’s what we should be here for.

    • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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      15 days ago

      Port Piraeus was a long time ago, tariffs are a way to raise funds for the government, especially preincome tax days. Then 1789 came along and the government got tired of being a beggar, but couldn’t impose taxes, so they imposed the Tariff Act of 1789. 60% tariffs would make Chinese products inviable on any market. The 10-20 on everything else will effectively eliminate the middle class. Idk whose playing stupid, the reason Trump looks bad on this is because it is bad.