The stock market has declined rapidly and deeply, blaming President Trump’s actions on tariffs. Democrat politicians are screaming that Trump is starting a trade war. Some Republican politicians are saying Trump has walked into a political buzz saw by pushing tariffs too aggressively and quickly. The news media claims the sky is falling because Trump is disrupting longstanding trade relations with countries we want to trade with rather than have military conflicts. The American people are being pulled and pushed between the narratives of media, economists, politicians, and analysts—all with their personal versions of what is going on with tariffs. How do we discern the truth about tariffs?
From the 1830s to present, Democrats and Republicans have been divided over the use of trade tariffs. Generally speaking, Democrats have opposed tariffs and Republicans have favored them. It’s the age-old debate over protectionism and free trade. Democrats would naturally favor free trade, it’s in their DNA of what they consider democracy—everybody gets a vote and the majority wins. But free trade is not fair trade. And like a republic as majority guided by rules and laws, fair trade is considered trade that is equitable and reciprocal. Not to say that there were/are Republicans that were free trade supporters. Richard Nixon and George HW Bush were free trade presidents, resulting in part the problem with China today. China has risen as a world power economically and militarily because of unbalanced trade with America.
Trump is trying to correct this imbalance and bring fairness to US trade relations around the world. Of course, the other countries are not going to like it. They have held advantageous positions, enriching themselves with goods purchased by America while leveling tariffs on American goods entering their countries. Trump is saying that the field should be level, the scales balanced. And while the stock market is undergoing a correction using tariffs as the excuse, countries other than China are coming to the negotiating table with Trump. Vietnam, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Great Britain, Japan, and about 70 others are negotiating or have indicated they will negotiate with Trump on implementing fair trade. American industry, such as Ford, Apple and others are bringing their workforce back to the US because of the tariffs.
The Democrats and media think that Trump’s attack on free trade will destroy America’s relationships abroad and harm the economy. Tariffs, however, if used properly, are good for US national security and its workforce. Trump said on April 2, “I have declared a national emergency arising from conditions reflected in large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits, which have grown by over 40 percent in the past 5 years alone, reaching $1.2 trillion in 2024. This trade deficit reflects asymmetries in trade relationships that have contributed to the atrophy of domestic production capacity, especially that of the US manufacturing and defense-industrial base.” Proverbs 20:23 says, “A double standard in weights are an abomination to the Lord, And dishonest scales are not good.” Trump is trying to correct this abomination.
Sources:
https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/how-will-trumps-liberation-day-tariffs-affect-the-economy
