Trump's tariffs: Is there any upside?
- Thread starter Wilson23
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Sean Renaud
The West Coast Pop
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The thing is Trump's Tariffs and tariffs really shouldn't be discussed together because Trump is a fucking moron. I would absolutely support targeted tariffs. The concept that we are protective of Taiwan more because of how badly China taking that land would hurt us than any morality is a problem. We are NEVER going to be independent mind you. There are things that are impossible or so close to impossible that its not worth it. I used to know off the top of my head how much coffee is grown in the US I'm just going to say its in the single digits and hope I'm not wrong and that its not 10%. I think its in the 1% range and almost exclusively in Hawaii but yeah. The same is true for cocoa. No amount of tariffs is going to change the environment. At least not short term. . . So tariffing the hell out of that doesn't make any sense.
I'm not an economist but I could in theory go line by line but it makes sense tariff some things.
We are never going to return to a manufacturing economy. NOT HAPPENING. EVER. We can certainly be less dependent on others though. I don't think that was truly Trump's goal though.
I'm not an economist but I could in theory go line by line but it makes sense tariff some things.
We are never going to return to a manufacturing economy. NOT HAPPENING. EVER. We can certainly be less dependent on others though. I don't think that was truly Trump's goal though.
His goal was simply to REACT TO DEMANDS that had been percolating on the nationalist-populist right ever since the Reform Party.
justawnnabewriter
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What did the Trump Tariffs do? Did they change anything? Did they make any difference?
Yes, they made a LOT of difference to international trade.
Sean Renaud
The West Coast Pop
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YES. Without a doubt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariffs_in_the_second_Trump_administration
Impacts
Upon imposing the highest U.S. tariffs since the Great Depression (called "Liberation Day" in April 2025), Trump claimed that "jobs and factories will come roaring back". However, manufacturing employment declined every month for the rest of the year.[191]
Though Trump claimed in December 2025 that "inflation has stopped", the consumer price index (CPI) began increasing in the months following his April 2025 announcement of tariffs.[192]
Consumer sentiment declined during the early part of Trump's second term.[193] The University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment reached a record low in April 2026.[194]
Trump asserted tariffs on Chinese goods in February and April 2025, igniting a trade war that injected uncertainty as China turned to other sources.[195]
In January 2026, the US dollar reached its lowest point in four years.[196] A lower dollar makes US goods less expensive abroad, but it also makes foreign products more expensive in the US and thus tends to increase inflation.[197]
Studies have shown that the tariffs have increased expenses and reduced earnings for companies[198][17][18][19] and have increased costs for households.[17]
Goldman Sachs estimated that as of August 2025, tariff incidence was paid 37% by US consumers, 51% by US businesses, and 9% by foreign exporters. About 3% was attributed to potential tariff evasion.[199] A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated that in the first 11 months of 2025, between 6% and 14% of tariff costs were paid by foreign exporters.[200] Studies by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Kiel Institute estimated that US consumers and businesses pay a total of 94% and 96% of the tariffs, respectively.[200]
The promised growth in manufacturing jobs has not been realized.[20]
The tariffs led to policy uncertainty and prompted a drop in consumer confidence.[201] More than half of Americans blamed the Trump administration responsible for the rising cost of living[202] and disapproved of the Trump administration increasing tariffs.[203] Corporate bankruptcies in the United States increased to the highest level since 2010.[21][22][23]
The tariffs have led to a sharp reduction in the exports of U.S. crops due to retaliatory tariffs by other countries, particularly China, leading to many bankruptcies of U.S. farms; the impact has been partially mitigated by the Trump administration farmer bailouts.[204]
However, although many economists and economic research bodies predicted slower growth and even a possible recession due to the tariffs, U.S. GDP has continued to grow, which partially has been attributed to backtracking by Trump off of the initial high tariff rates.[24][25] There has also been no definitive indication of a significant aggregate effect on the labor market so far; however, industries most exposed to tariffs show some signs of weakness relative to the pre-2025 trend.[26]
