Trump's Favorite Word: Tariff
And one of the few he says nowadays not in a barely-audible, raspy slur.
Tariff, light of my life, firing synapses of my brain. My lunacy, my misunderstanding. Tar-iff: the tip of my enlarged tongue shuffling two steps down the palate to spray, at two, on anyone nearby. Tar. Iff.
Donald Trump told the Economic Club in Chicago that his favorite word was tariff. In over his head, Trump was like a mouse who found himself in a room full of cats with no way to escape. Economists, business leaders and pretty much anyone with an ability to count to three (1–2–3) understand that the cost massive tariffs against imported goods will have to be passed onto American consumers causing many basic items to go up in price — bigly.
But Trump’s desire for high tariffs has been consistent. In an interview on Tuesday at the Economic Club of Chicago, he said, “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff.’” As president, he called himself “a Tariff Man.” In fact, he imposed substantial tariffs when in office. Those actions were, however, mild compared with the tariffs he is proposing now. He initially suggested a 10 percent tariff on all imports, but now he talks about tariffs as high as 20 percent. (In Chicago, he even mused about 50 percent.) He wants a 60 percent tariff on imports from China.
Most economists believe that this would be a terrible idea, and I share that view. I’m not a free-trade purist; I opposed the Obama administration’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership and have been generally supportive of the much tougher line the Biden-Harris administration has taken on trade (Tariff Plan Could WreckOur Economy).
In a way similar to how the main protagonist in the Nabokov literary classic Lolita probably knew that engaging in sexual relations with the child-like Lolita, I sincerely doubt that Trump is smart enough to understand how bad his obsession is. He himself has called it a “ring around the collar” of our economy. Trump is a bully, and he regards the U.S. market as a reward, the ultimate carrot to be idolized by the world, and, in the mind of a bully, if he has something he thinks everyone wants then they need to kiss the ring to gain access to it.
Trump’s tariffs would do almost nothing for domestic manufacturing because as is often the case, when imports become more expensive domestic producers raise their prices too. Maybe their price increases won’t be as high as the new ones on the effected imports, but they will be high enough to reduce demand for the goods thus offsetting the need for more domestic manufacturing. In addition, if demand for imports drops, then the value of the dollar rises making imports cheaper for Americans sparking demand for those items.
The simplest, clearest effect of a tariff hike would be higher prices. In 2023, imports from China were 1.6 percent of gross domestic income while imports from other countries were 9.6 percent. So a quick-and-dirty estimate of the inflationary effect of Trump’s tariffs is 0.6*1.6+0.2*9.6 = 2.88 percent — call it a 3 percent rise in the cost of living (Tariff Plan Could WreckOur Economy).
Donald Trump’s concepts of a plan approach to making America great again is really just a distraction from the fact that Donald Trump has no idea what he would do if he is elected again. It demonstrates loud and clear that Trump will say anything he thinks will sway undecided voters and then do everything he can with his unlimited power to prove to the world that he is a “great and tough man’s man,” a world leader on par with Adolf Hitler, and Vladimir Putin.
Trump is a clown and the simple fact that he is so close to winning the presidency demonstrates to the world that the United States has lost its mind — that we really are a bunch of dumbasses. Most of us here will vote for him, but the non-thinking and historically-clueless will cast their votes for his lies and befuddled disorientation.
Little presents Trump with such problems today than basic, simple thoughts. Maybe, if we keep up the pressure on him and force him to campaign like he was a much younger and healthier man, we can push him into some Mitch McConnel moments — and maybe even something darker.
Keep your fingers crossed, folks. My tank of civility for him and his cult is running on empty.