Tariffs are Complicated

Tariffs are Complicated 

Co-Pilot:   "To offset higher import costs, retailers often increase prices, passing the burden on to consumers. As a result, consumers effectively pay for the tariff."

Economists who study this stuff can disagree on how to implement Tariff policy.  I certainly am not claiming superior knowledge, but it seems pretty clear that Trump's ham-handed tariff threats are going to end up costing the American consumer higher prices for imported products .  The governments of countries where the tariffs are imposed does not pay the US one cent.

The ideal of "made in America" is a worthy one.  We shouldn't be dependent on others to produce our weaponry or essential needs.  

But you can't offset the effects of decades of off-shoring in a few months.  It seems that Trump is too lazy to take a measured, time-consuming approach.  Its easier to blow things up than creating something brick by brick.   

And remember this inconvenient fact:  American made goods almost always cost more than imported goods, due to the higher labor costs. So, the poor, embattled consumer again ends-up footing the bill so the virtuous can say "It was made in America."  (Probably by Asian or Hispanic immigrants.)