President Donald Trump sees great virtues in building a tariff wall around America.  Is that good or bad?  It depends. 

Trump’s argument is that tariffs are good for America over the long run, even if they have short-term costs.  “Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn.”  Trump has claimed that tariffs will make the American economy “even more self-sufficient, producing more of its energy, lumber, steel, and computer chips than ever before.”[1]  If those hopes come true, there will many jobs—white collar as well as blue collar—created.  The American economy’s supply-chain will become much more secure in a time of rising international tensions.  Trump has conceded that America would experience a “period of transition,” which might include a recession.[2]  

Critics argue that tariffs are bad for America and for everyone else.  First, tariffs raise prices for consumer countries, not for producer countries.[3]  Second, if one country raises tariffs, the other country or countries will raise tariffs on the first country’s goods.  This will reduce exports in what becomes a” trade war.”  Slowing down the domestic economy by raising consumer prices and reducing employment in sectors tied to exports could bring on a recession. 

President Donald Trump has followed a very erratic course on actually imposing tariffs.  Is that good or bad?  It’s bad. 

In early March 2025, Trump imposed a 20 percent tariff on goods imported from China[4] and 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.[5]  China responded with 10-15 percent tariffs on American corn and wheat.  The stock market tumbled and Trump quickly announced a month-long pause on tariffs on imported cars and parts.  The Wall Street Journal wondered “which side of the tariff bed Trump will wake up on” in days to come?  They got a quick answer.  In mid-March 2025, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum (both unprocessed and turned into something else—look at your soda can) imported into the United States. 

No one seemed to care about the tariff hike for China, but critics insisted that Canada and Mexico take about a third of America’s exports and send the US valuable commodities. 

Is this what got Trump elected?  Journalists posit that Trump won election on the promise of a vibrant economy, low inflation and unemployment, and controlled immigration.  That’s not all they’re getting.  One recent poll reported that 56 percent of respondents disapproved of Trump’s management of the economy.  He tariff-bombed China in his first administration and talked about tariffs in the campaign for his second.  Apparently, no one took him seriously.  Now he is acting like a real lame-duck president: doing what he thinks is right regardless of the polls or the pols—or the stock market.  Albeit in an erratic, bloviating, Trump-like fashion. 

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[1] Quoted in “The Trump economy: Adrift in a sea of tariffs,” The Week, 28 March 2025, p. 34. 

[2] “Trump tariffs cause stock market whiplash,” The Week, 21 March 2025, p. 4. 

[3] Which is exactly the purpose of tariffs.  More expensive imports create a market for cheaper domestic producers. 

[4] Previously 10 percent.  The key question becomes whether the American producers can deliver equal goods at a lower cost. 

[5] Even though all three countries are members of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  “U.S. tariffs spark North American trade war,” The Week, 14 March 2025, p. 5.