Free traders Cordell Hull, Franklin
Roosevelt’s great secretary of state, and John Kennedy must be turning over in
their graves at the silence of leading Democrats on the imposition of the Trump
tariffs. Trump has already imposed about $400 billion of goods coming in from
China, the E.U., Canada and Mexico. At an average 15% rate the tariffs amount
to a $60 billion a year tax on American consumers. We are talking about regular
folks here, not Trump’s fat cats.
Meantime as our trading partners retaliate
our export oriented farmers (think soybeans) and manufacturers (think auto workers)
are suffering. So I say, where are the Democrats? Their silence is deafening.
I guess the Democrats are so enthralled
with the protectionist sirens offered up by Bernie Sanders in the last
presidential campaign. When Bernie was talking it was only theoretical, but there
is no excuse today as the real world effects of the tariffs become obvious.
Every Democrat should repeat over and over, “A tariff is a tax on consumers.”
As a result, when the tariff induced
recession comes, the Democrats will stand in the docket as indicted
co-conspirators. In 1932 the Republicans took the full blame for Smoot-Hawley;
this time there will be plenty of blame to go around. It is time for Pelosi,
Schumer and the 20 or so presidential candidates to speak up!
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