• Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 day ago

    The “protectionism” falls flat the moment you consider that the tariffs blanket all goods. If you want to dramatically expand American industry, you don’t start by raising the price of steel and raw materials.

    • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Yea no matter how you slice it, there are no good use of tariffs, and if one were to insist, then it would only be like just barley enough to push up the price above parity, and only on very select items. But then if the other country does it back it goes in favor to the nation that is more industrial.

      • Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        But then if the other country does it back it goes in favor to the nation that is more industrial.

        Correct! That’s what Cavallo et al found when the Trump administration tariffed China in 2018. US profit margins decreased on both imports AND exports, while China’s remained largely unchanged.

        According to their analysis, American tariffs hurt Americans more than literally anyone else.

        Fun fact, the Trump Administration cited Cavallo et al as supporting evidence for their tariff calculations.

        • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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          10 hours ago

          The soybean tariffs, china found other countries quite quickly into counter the tariffs, and they largely abandoned the US of soybeans export