Francis P. Sempa
The Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs have engendered stock markets to panic and U.S. trading partners and Trump’s domestic political opponents to complain about harmful “trade wars.” Some partisan economists have compared Trump’s tariffs to the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930, which is often blamed for prolonging the Great Depression, although Amity Shales among others have placed greater blame for this on FDR’s New Deal policies. What is missing from most of the reactions to Trump’s tariffs, however, is an appreciation for their contribution to the administration’s larger geopolitical strategy.
Trump’s tariffs should be viewed in the context of the administration’s overall geopolitical approach to the world, which includes a reinvigoration of the Monroe Doctrine, limiting U.S. involvement in the Middle East conflicts and the Ukraine war, triangular diplomacy with Russia and China, and a pivot to the Indo-Pacific. Trump is using economics as a tool of statecraft. It is a time-honored tradition extending back in this country to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s promotion of tariffs to encourage domestic manufacturing but not to impose protectionism. Congress enacted most of Hamilton’s proposed tariffs which were described as moderate.
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