I’ve been reading up on the tariffs that were imposed during the Trump administration and I keep seeing mixed reviews about their effectiveness. On one hand, they seemed to protect certain domestic industries by making imported goods more expensive; on the other hand, there’s a lot of talk about higher prices for consumers and retaliatory measures from trading partners.
The thing is, these tariffs aren’t exactly popular among everyone. If we were to look back 1 year out, 2 years out, and even a few more years down the line, how will we actually know if this was a good move?
Surely there are some metrics or outcomes that can help us evaluate their success or failure. I guess it’s not as simple as checking stock market performance alone, although that’s probably part of it, right?
Is it primarily about looking at changes in trade balances with countries like China, or do we need to consider the broader economic impacts, such as job growth within certain industries? And how much weight should be given to the political ramifications, like strengthened relationships (or tensions) with trading partners?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what metrics or indicators would help determine whether these tariffs were indeed a beneficial strategy. Thanks in advance for any insights!
That assumes America is still a democracy in 4 years. We are only a few months in and it is already not looking great.
and you think that’s an argument to spin up new factories? not really.
If the US collapses into complete fascism, everyone inside is either going to be cut off from the global market. for a foreign company, spinning up factories in the US, when, in four years, they might literally get those investments yeeted from them is stupid. and that’s really the best case.
I never argued that. Only pointing out its decent into fascism. All bets are off at that point as to what will happen to its industries.