We see a lot of stories about how disastrous Trump's tariffs are.  The criticisms involve the U.S. being in a global economy, the competition, and how hard such tariffs are on consumers and businesses.  The main talking points are that there are more buyers than producers of steel, aluminum, and other products, so the tariffs are harmful to the economy.  Somehow, the critics fail to recognize all the tariffs and taxes that other countries impose on U.S. products.  I have a few questions to see how far this goes.

Would it be good for the economy or would it destroy our economy in the long run if:

Saudi Arabia and other oil producers around the world lowered the price of oil to $10 per barrel until other producers were put out of business, since 100% of us use crude products, and there are few people who actually produce them?

Airbus were subsidized and kept lowering its price until it put Boeing out of business, since more people fly and buy planes than the people who work for Boeing?

Brazil and other farm-producing countries lowered the price of beans to $5 a ton and $1 a ton for corn, until farmers elsewhere were bankrupted because 100% of us eat, and more companies and many more employees buy beans and corn than the number of farmers who produce them?

A company from China, such as Alibaba, undercut Amazon and other retailers until they are out of business, because 100% of us are consumers and we would save money?

How many goods-producing industries and occupations would have to be destroyed before the anti-tariff crowd would consider it a problem?

If China and other countries are able to take over manufacturing from the United States because they are cheaper or subsidized, would they hesitate going after our service industries?

The trade deficit is around $600 billion now, and that slows economic growth.  At what point would the anti-tariff crowd be concerned?  One trillion dollars – $2 trillion?  Maybe never, because, after all, there are more buyers of products than producers in all cases.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says he supports the tariffs on China, but not on nations that are our friends.  Is he such an economic illiterate that he doesn't understand that if you put tariffs only on China and don't put tariffs or quotas on our "friends," China will just launder its products through those "friends"?

While Schumer and others oppose tariffs that may add less than 1% to the cost of a car, soda, or beer, they absolutely support an almost 90-year-old law that has oppressed taxpayers and minorities for that long, which is essentially a 20% tariff on government projects.

The prevailing wage laws essentially take away competitive bidding and reduce the number of jobs and projects that taxpayers get for their hard-earned dollars.  Here is one op-ed about it.

Of course, the Democrats who support the 20% prevailing wage tariffs also support head, sugar, income, sales, property, gas, income, and many other taxes and fees.  They support massive regulations, also.  Each one of these taxes, fees, and regulations is essentially a tariff on U.S. consumers and companies, much more harmful than the tariffs Trump is proposing to level the international playing field.

The Democrats who support all these taxes and regulations absolutely opposed Trump's tax reforms and tax cuts, which were also meant to make the U.S. more competitive.  The Democrats operate as a cult, where the cult leaders, Pelosi and Schumer, refused to allow their members to support these reforms and cuts, despite their knowing that the cuts would help almost all companies and a significant majority of their constituents.  Most journalists are also members of this cult, as they repeat the talking points of the cult leaders instead of telling the public the truth about the positive impact of the tax and regulatory cuts on the entire economy.

So pardon me if I don't believe that Democrats, including journalists, give a rat's rear end about a 1% increase in the price of a car as they harp on about how such tariffs reduce the purchasing power of Americans.

Michigan just repealed its prevailing wage laws and says it will save them $400 million per year.  The state will save $400 million a year with its prevailing wage reform.

Thank goodness we have Trump as president, because Hillary would have continued Obama's ambivalence about losing manufacturing jobs.

I saw an article last week that said some Canadians are canceling vacations in the U.S and boycotting products because of the tariffs. 

I had no idea that our president was supposed to make sure that 100% of people in other countries, including Canada, are happy with our policies.  Now I know!  Heaven forbid that a president would ever think of the United States and its people first.  I bet if Canadians want to go someplace warm or to Disneyland or Disney World, they come to the U.S. anyway.  I also bet that most of the Canadians who are snowbirds continue to come to Florida and Arizona.

I am pretty sure that some dairy farmers in the U.S might boycott Canadian vacations and products because of their tariffs.  I wonder where those stories are.

Image Credit: Giulia Forsythe via Flickr, CC SA-BY 1.0.