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

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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.

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.

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