Trump's Tariffs: Good, Bad, or a Bit of Both?

President Donald Trump ran on the promise of tariffs and their benefits to the US, leading some to question whether they are working or not.

US Defies Tariff Doomsday Predictions: An article from Wall Street Journal Opinion (Lean Right bias) cited economists' predictions after Trump announced sweeping tariffs in April. Economists warned of “surging inflation” and economic recession as “companies and consumers stockpiled to get ahead of price rises,” but the Wall Street Journal article said “those worries now seem overblown.”  Matthew Lynn, opinion writer for the Washington Post (Lean Left), also critical of these economic predictions, said, “Economists were wrong about tariffs,” explaining, “They’re becoming as useless as political pollsters.” Both writers mentioned the odds given for a “full-blown recession” and explained that while inflation is too high, it is lower than the economists' forecast. Lynn said that “it sounded like life would resemble a post-apocalypse Netflix series, with survivors dodging zombies and fighting one another for the last few items at the mall.” Lynn asserted that “the big thinkers got this one wrong” and said to “maintain any credibility, they need to address why that happened.” Lynn mentioned that with an economy “growing at close to 4%,” with inflation “still under 3%,” and tariffs that are generating “so much extra revenue that the Trump administration has floated the idea of giving regular taxpayers a bonus of up to $2000,” it seems as if “the economic mainstream suffers from Trump derangement syndrome.” According to Lynn, the economists were wrong, and they need to admit it, “and like the similarly embarrassed political pollsters, they need to rethink their business.”

Tariffs Cause Substantial Damage: Glenn C. Altschuler, an opinion writer for The Hill (Center) said “Trump loves his tariffs” and cited claims from Trump saying that “we’re becoming rich as he**,” and “there’ll never be any wealth like what we have,” explaining that Trump maintains we have “already solved inflation, we’ve solved prices.” According to Altschuler, Trump is wrong, and “a substantial majority of Americans do not agree” with him either. “Americans have good reason to be concerned,” Altschuler posited, citing the “deep financial hole” the federal government is in and explaining that “tariff revenues have not and cannot make more than a small dent in these deficits.” Furthermore, “tariffs are the principal reason inflation is higher now” than in January, and these same tariffs “have upended supply chains” and “ironically” they have also “undermined the domestic manufacturing and agrarian sectors of the economy Trump promised to protect and promote.”

Good With the Bad: “It can be said that a lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots," opinion writer Kevin Ford said in an article for The Advocate (Center). Ford explained that in the Shrimp industry, the lies came from environmental activists blaming liquefied natural gas and oil companies for dropping shrimp prices, saying that the “false narrative” is “being busted with the implementation of Trump’s robust tariffs on imported shrimp.” According to Ford, “maintaining a viable domestic industry brings benefits that far outweigh pennies added at the checkout counter.” Another opinion writer for Newsweek (Center) affirmed this same sentiment, explaining that the US “consumes around a trillion dollars more than it produces every year,” which is “completely unsustainable,” and suggested that the US “pursue a robust trade agenda that expands the use of tariffs.” The Newsweek writer admitted there would be “short-term costs” but asserted them as worthy when considering the “long-term benefits.” However, not all industries have done well, and this may be associated with the “cost” involved in the tariff process. Shontel Brown, writing for Fox News Opinion (Right), called the results on the farming industry “Farmageddon,” explaining that “Trump’s reckless tariff war is crushing America’s farmers.”          

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.