As Trump’s tariff policy continues to fail, his response is to keep doubling down.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs were sold as something that would bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and lower costs for consumers. Instead, costs continue to rise, and manufacturing in the U.S. continues to decline.
And now, after claiming his tariffs would be good for farmers, Trump is having to bail out farmers hurt by his signature economic policy:
“The details make the contrast unavoidable. China halted purchases of American soybeans and other crops in direct retaliation for Trump’s tariffs. Markets shifted toward Brazil and Argentina. Prices fell. Input costs kept rising. Many farmers face the most strained financial environment since the 1980s. USDA analysts estimate losses this season could reach $44 billion. The twelve billion dollars announced at the White House covers less than a third.”
Yet, even as his tariff policy hurts American farmers, Trump is threatening a tariff on Canadian potash, which would hurt farmers even more:
“A lot of it does come in from Canada, and so we’ll end up putting very severe tariffs on that, if we have to, because that’s the way you want to bolster here,” Trump said. “And we can do it here. We can all do that here.”
In effect, Trump is threatening to impose a new tax on American farmers even as they struggle with the consequences of his tariff tax and the disruption in trade it has generated. Unable to acknowledge that his tariff policy is economically illiterate and counterproductive, Trump is instead threatening more of the same, more taxes that drive up costs, add friction to trade, and damage the standard of living of Canadians, Americans, and the citizens of many other nations that benefited from free and open trade.
Trump is also further demonstrating that past trade deals and once-ironclad agreements can be thrown out on a whim, making it nearly impossible to trust any future ‘deal’ signed with the U.S. under the current administration.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube
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