tariffs
Do tariffs do what they are imposed to do?
Taxes on imports: whether they close a trade deficit, what they do to prices, and what they are really for.
FilterEveryone, all time41 from 16 people
- DD
Daniel W. Drezner quoted
Political scientist writing Drezner’s World on international relations
Their wordsEconomically, the tariffs have accomplished very little beyond a moderate increase in inflation and a moderate increase in the trade deficit.
↗Has America Hit Peak Protectionism?danieldrezner.substack.com
- 6 days earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Trade economist, Nobel laureate in 2008 for his work…
Their wordsMy basic point — that Trump inherited a relatively benign inflation picture and threw that inheritance away with his tariffs and war — is even clearer from the PPI than the CPI.
↗The Bad News on Inflation Just Keeps Comingpaulkrugman.substack.com
- 1 day earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsBut there is no question who is responsible for the resurgence in inflation: this is all on Trump, first the tariffs and then then the Iran war.
↗On Inflation, Trump Snatched Defeat from the Jaws of Victorypaulkrugman.substack.com
- 12 days earlier
- NS
Noah Smith quoted
Economics writer; author of the Noahpinion newsletter
Their wordsTrump has done lots of things to make inflation worse in his second term: 1. Tariffs 2. Massive deficits that he says we can "pay back" with inflation 3. The Iran War
- 8 days earlier
- NS
Noah Smith quoted
Their wordsEurope should put more tariffs on Chinese products, in order to push Chinese companies to make their products overseas -- which will give industrialization a boost in poor countries all over the world.
- 5 days earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsContrary to Trump administration expectations and predictions, there has been no revival of U.S. manufacturing employment, and investment in manufacturing — at least as measured by construction spending — has fallen off a cliff.
↗Why Does Everyone Hate Trump’s Tariffs?paulkrugman.substack.com
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Our readingImport prices have risen under Trump's tariffs, undercutting claims that foreigners would pay them.
Their wordsAnd import prices, even excluding petroleum, have gone up, not down, belying claims that foreigners would pay the tariffs.
↗Why Does Everyone Hate Trump’s Tariffs?paulkrugman.substack.com
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Our readingThe Trump tariffs have not caused a global recession or a 1930s-style spiral into protectionism.
Their wordsHowever, the Trump tariffs haven’t caused a recession, either in the U.S. or globally. Nor have they led to a 1930s-style global spiral into protectionism: Retaliation by other nations against U.S. tariffs has been limited, and there has been hardly any sign of emulation — of other nations deciding to follow Trump’s lead by imposing their own high tariffs on trading partners.
↗Why Does Everyone Hate Trump’s Tariffs?paulkrugman.substack.com
- 3 days earlier
- DD
Daniel W. Drezner quoted
Their wordsThe current problem with prices might be one part AI construction boom, but it is one part Trump's tariffs and one part Trump's war in Iran as well.
↗Donald Trump Is No Longer Feareddanieldrezner.substack.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
- 4 days earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsThe point is that large-scale international trade, while it may sometimes serve the cause of peace, can also create the potential for conflict.
- 6 days earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsAmerica’s large trade deficit in manufactured goods does mean that we have fewer manufacturing jobs than we would if that trade were balanced.
↗Neo-Nazis and the Impotence of Trumponomicspaulkrugman.substack.com
- 6 months earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsIn fact, the U.S. trade deficit for all of 2025 was about the same as it was in 2024.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 1st of 4 in this piece
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Our readingThe tariffs did not revive American manufacturing; employment in it fell after they were imposed.
Their wordsTrump also claimed that his tariffs would revive American manufacturing. In fact, manufacturing employment has declined since Liberation Day.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 2nd of 4 in this piece
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsRevenue from the Trump tariffs, even pre-Court, wasn’t enough to make a large dent in the deficit.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 3rd of 4 in this piece
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsIt has been clear from the beginning that a primary motivation for tariffs was that they empowered Trump personally.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 4th of 4 in this piece
- 12 days earlier
- AV
Austin Vernon quoted
Engineer and investor who writes quantitative posts…
Their wordsThese end manufacturers (new and old) are vulnerable to tariffs on their inputs and they are the buyers that the "speed strategy" is relevant for.
↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 9th of 15 in this piece
- AV
Austin Vernon quoted
Their wordsZero tariffs are the best way to help them.
↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 10th of 15 in this piece
- 3 days earlier
- JC
JL Collins quoted
Author of The Simple Path to Wealth…
Their wordsTariffs, and especially the erratic implementation of them, are teaching our allies and enemies alike that the US is no longer a reliable trading partner.
↗JL Goes International, and to ETFs…… Oh my!jlcollinsnh.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- JC
JL Collins quoted
Our readingTariffs are likely to become inflationary once companies can no longer absorb the added costs.
Their wordsThese tariffs are also likely to be very inflationary once companies are no longer willing or/and able to absorb them.
↗JL Goes International, and to ETFs…… Oh my!jlcollinsnh.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
- 7 weeks earlier
- MH
Molson Hart quoted
Manufacturer and founder of Viahart
Their wordsAmerica needs an educational and cultural transformation to compete with China and reverse the decline in living standards that Americans have suffered over decades.
↗Chinese Labor Isn't Just Cheaper; It’s Better. We Need to Fix That.molsonhart.com 4th of 4 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
- TG
Tanner Greer quoted
Essayist, journalist and independent researcher on Chinese…
Our readingStrategic considerations now function as a floor rather than a ceiling on American tariff rates.
Their wordsIn previous eras, strategic considerations set the ceiling for American tariffs. Now they set the floor.
↗Did Taiwan “Lose Trump?”scholars-stage.org 2nd of 3 in this piece
- 1 day earlier
- CH
Casey Handmer quoted
Physicist, formerly at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Their wordsIn terms of things that are causing us to lose to China, tariffs are neither here nor there because, as we've discussed, we're not sensitive to cost on power. But the environmental regulations that are actively preventing us from deploying renewable energy in the United States, like this is the reason Texas is winning. Texas is out deploying California 10 to1.
↗China is killing the US on energy. Does that mean they’ll win AGI? — Casey Handmeryoutube.com 16th of 24 in this recording
- 2 days earlier
- KJ
Keyu Jin quoted
Economist specialising in China's economy
Their wordsTariffs, this kind of highly protectionist method is very distortionary and it’s going to be bad for the US. I’d actually argue that both China and the US have totally taken advantage and also enjoyed the global economic realm under the US liberal order.
↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 12th of 16 in this recording
- KJ
Keyu Jin quoted
Their wordsThe trade deficits have widened since Trump, right? They haven’t closed the imbalance with China and with the rest of the world because ultimately the US saves less than it invests. And that’s a macrophenomenon. It’s not a trade phenomenon
↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 13th of 16 in this recording
- 2 months earlier
- GS
Guy Spier quoted
Zurich-based value investor who ran the Aquamarine Fund…
Their wordsThe tariffs create political headlines that distract. But just as they can be easily announced, they can just as easily be changed or removed.
- GS
Guy Spier quoted
Their wordsThere is everything to play for, and we can still all come out better off.
- 2 weeks earlier
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Data scientist at Our World in Data and author of Not the End of the World
Their wordsThat’s because most clean energy jobs are in deployment and maintenance rather than manufacturing, and since higher costs slow down the rollout of renewables, increasing prices reduces the total number of people working in clean energy (even if the number working in manufacturing increases).
↗Why are solar panels and batteries from China so cheap?sustainabilitybynumbers.com 1st of 5 in this piece
- 2 weeks earlier
- SH
Samuel Hammond quoted
Senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation
Our readingThe US-China trade imbalance is driven mainly by capital flows, not tariffs or trade deficits.
Their wordsTariffs and trade deficits are a distraction from the deeper source of the US-China current account imbalance, namely capital flows.
↗Oren Cass’s Labor Theory of Valuesecondbest.ca 1st of 3 in this piece
- 2 weeks earlier
- JC
John H. Cochrane quoted
Economist at the Hoover Institution
Their wordsTariffs are easy: The right answer is unilateral free trade.
↗Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com 1st of 6 in this piece
- JC
John H. Cochrane quoted
Our readingThe American trade deficit is foreigners choosing to invest in America, not America being cheated.
Their wordsthis story tells us how an increase in foreign demand to save in the US rather than at home will push up the dollar, and cause the trade deficit, which is in effect how foreigners send us factories which they would rather build here than in their own countries.
↗Tariffs, saving, and investmentgrumpy-economist.com 2nd of 6 in this piece