Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

April 9, 2025 | Sandi Kemp

A tariff is a duty (tax) imposed by the government of a country or customs territory, on imports (or, exceptionally, exports) of goods. Let’s have a factual look into Trump’s “Liberation Day” – the day of the Tariff proclamation. After looking into the history of tariff’s, I’m wondering why Trump didn’t impose universal tariffs – that are equal to (at a minimum) what other countries were charging us in 2018. What has been going on for a very long time isn’t fair to American workers and manufacturers. Albeit there are not as many manufacturers as there used to be – because of tariffs and the lack thereof coming into the U.S.A. Hopefully that will change in the very near future especially for necessities – such as pharmaceuticals. Let’s look at what happened in 2018 with the Steel Tariffs. Trumps steel tariffs in his first term led to a gain of thousands of jobs in the metal industry and wage increases. There was a boon to the Minnesota iron ore industry with state leaders crediting them for strengthening the local economy. Steel and aluminum imports decreased and created a wave in investments across the US – with more than $10 billion committed to build new manufacturing facilities. There were reports from local media such as:

The Hill: “The Trump tariffs keep working to the consternation of many economists”
S&P Global: “Global Trade At A Crossroads: Trump Tariffs Forge Better Credit Quality For U.S.-Based Steel And Aluminum Producers With A Protectionist Stance”
Industry Week: “Tariffs Are Keeping US Steel Production Strong”

At the same time, you had reporting with headlines such as, (PBS 2018) “Trump tariffs may imperil a delicate global economic rebound” and (NPR 2018) “Trump plan to impose tariffs on steel, aluminum raises trade war fears.” And (The New Yorker 2019) “Trumps Trade War could make the Trump recession a reality” Sound familiar?

Here are a few of the current tariff (or tax) rates charged to the USA – including currency manipulation and trade barriers: China, 67%; Vietnam, 90%; Taiwan, 64%; Thailand, 72%; This means that China is effectively charging their citizens 67% more than what it costs in the United States to buy U.S. goods. That makes the barrier of entry into China – very difficult. Yet, when China wants to sell something to us – it is effectively 0% if it is an item under $800. Online clothing outlets such as Shein and Temu have been enjoying “duty-free” shipments to the U.S. Their products are already super cheap because of possible unfair and unethical labor practices and the use of suspect chemicals. I’ve never been a fan of those clothing outlets because their products are from China, and we need to be buying American. And, if it is that cheap – there is something terribly wrong. When I ask people where they got their outfit, and they tell me Shein or Temu – I let them know what I think. Which helps perpetuate my reputation of being – direct and not kind enough to tell people what they would like to hear vs. the truth.

Current headlines as of 4/7/2025: (U.S. News and World Report) “Tariff Chaos Continues,” (NPR) “Wall Street leaders warn of harsh tariff consequences”

I looked at my small fun investment account on Robinhood and I’ve lost $400 over the past month, but I made $400 when Trump was elected – so I’m not worried about it. My larger investment account – I’m not going to look at until all this calms down. The larger legacy media is not doing anyone any favors by only reporting one side of the story – the side that makes it looks like Trump is making a bad decision because they are looking for any misstep they can so they can prove their pre-determined believe that Trump is bad for our country. Where was all the reporting of all the failings of Biden? They are so transparent in their overall choice of reporting it is laughable. If the media would report on how unfair the tariffs have been and are – and how we need to do something to make it fair and equitable to the United States and the American Worker, we would get through this rough patch a lot faster. Have you heard it takes pains to be beautiful? Well, it also takes pains to financially right-side your sinking ship. The debt we have as a country is not sustainable and we are all going to have to make sacrifices to get it going in the right direction. I firmly believe that Trump has a very good plan – and if Biden had come up with it – I would say the same. More than 50 countries have expressed interest in negotiating tariffs with the Trump White House already. The media is going to be wrong again – just like they were wrong about Russia collusion and won Pulitzer Prizes for basically lying to the American people.

Basically, America has been living by the golden rule, with the expectation that it would be reciprocated, but it has not, nor have we given them the incentive to do so. Now, they have the incentive, and we should just give this time to work and not panic or buy into what the “legacy media” wants you to believe.

Quote of the Week: “Here’s my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others but keep after them until they’re fair with you.” Alan Alda (1936 – ) American Actor

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