Chebucto Regional Softball Club

@futurebird I was going to write the same thing when I saw your reply!

I think people wrongly equate tariffs with protectionism. Tariffs are just a tool, while protectionism is an overarching strategy. Tariffs can *hurt* American businesses, too: e.g. the Chicken Tax hurts US automakers more than it helps now.

I’m not sure if protectionism through tariffs ever helps—the 1930s protectionist tariffs led to the Great Depression after all—but we do know that NO protectionism hurts US workers…which is where your example comes in. For the past 40+ years, the US “free trade” policy essentially ANTI-protectionism: we exported US labor to countries with worse human rights and living standards to benefit capital. The result was devastating stagnation in wages, a destruction of US industries, and a widening of inequality.

And like you said, Trump is tapping into this: his base thinks he’s reversing the harms free trade, which he most certainly is not.

@futurebird I think what we’re seeing is not protectionism but a pure shakedown. The intended beneficiaries of Trump’s actions are (in order) Trump, the Trump Org, people who give Trump kickbacks in return for unfair trade advantage, and inside-traders.

There is no policy, no goal beyond short-term profiteering, no public interest, no thought given to long-term impact. It’s a mobster shakedown, plain and simple.

Nice business you got there, would be a shame if anything were to happen to it.