Comment by BlackTriangle31 on 03/02/2025 at 02:46 UTC

4 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)

View submission: U.S. Politics megathread

I've heard it said that tariffs are good for the issuing country and bad for the issuing country. Could someone explain the thought process behind issuing a tariff and what actually winds up happening? I feel I could understand it better if I had both the theoretical and practical results in front of me.

Also, please don't try to tell me 'Trump is brilliant/stupid' for issuing them; I'm trying to come to my own conclusion.

Replies

Comment by SurprisedPotato at 03/02/2025 at 05:09 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I've heard it said that tariffs are good for the issuing country and bad for the issuing country.

If the US imposes a tariff on Canadian maple syrup:

• it's bad for US citizens who like maple syrup, since the price goes up.
• It's bad for US import companies, since they lose sales and have to deal with the administrative burden of reporting and payment of the new tax
• However, it's good for US manufacturers of maple syrup.

So the tariff hurts everyone a little bit (more expensive breakfasts), hurts a few people a lot (the import companies and their staff), and massively helps a very small number of people (US-based maple farms).

The great benefit to US maple manufacturers generally isn't worth the cost of making 350 million people's breakfasts slightly more expensive.

The exception would be if the US had the capacity for a vibrant, globally competitive maple syrup industry, but couldn't get it off the ground since the Canadian industry was reaping the benefits of already being well established. Then, *temporary* protective tariffs might be worthwhile so the US industry could figure things out while servicing the domestic market - but even this can be achieved more easily just by subsiding local producers.

Comment by ConflictExtreme1540 at 03/02/2025 at 02:55 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

To add to this, could someone please explain what the end goal is? Like in an ideal world where Trump gets everything he wants, what is he trying to accomplish here? From reading, it seems like a mismash of different things have been said including:

1. Stopping drugs from crossing the border

2. Hurting China in general

3. Bringing jobs back to America

4. Abolishing the IRS and instead relying on terrifs as a source of government income

So is there something these countries can do to remove the teriffs? Or are they permanent with the goal of abolishing the IRS. I just don't understand what we're trying to do here.