Since the investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russian government operatives began, the White House has pushed a message that average Americans don’t care if their president committed serious crimes because the economy is doing so well. They may lose that justification after Trump’s new “national security tariffs.”
No matter how the Trump team tries to spin it, much more trustworthy people than the post-truth presidential administration of Donald Trump agree that the new tariffs on steel and aluminum, which were intended to be levied against hostile foreign countries but which now has exempted some allies and not others, are outrageous and dangerous to the world economy.
‘Tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, which together supply nearly half of America’s imported metal, are to take effect at midnight Thursday, said Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary.
‘Officials in Europe, Canada and Mexico responded quickly, denouncing the tariffs and warning of retaliation measures.’
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the tariffs “totally unacceptable” and said:
‘That Canada could be considered a national security threat to the United States is inconceivable. These tariffs will harm industry and workers on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, disrupting linked supply chains that have made North American steel and aluminum more competitive around the world.’
The new tariffs will do little for the American economy and potentially can do some real damage for every country involved. The allied countries not exempted from the new policy were never the countries causing trade deficits for the U.S., no matter how many clueless statements Trump brags about making to Trudeau that are demonstrably false.
What will most likely result from the new policy will be retaliation by the countries we’ve harmed, and prices for everything the American consumer buys will rise.
Twitter wasn’t impressed with Trump’s cryptic message, either. See some of their comments below,
Featured image via Getty/Bloomberg
