Investors are skittish. Wall Street is down. Trump’s gambit on tariffs has investors spooked. The sky is falling. Yada, yada, yada.
In fact, the sky isn’t falling. Yes, investors are roiling the markets. They fear that Trump’s big play to change the global dynamic on trade will backfire. MAGA isn’t in their blood. Do understand a thing or two about Wall Street. Investors don’t like change. The status quo is working quite well for them. In other words, their making oodles of money.
Not most Americans. Most folk have meager stocks and bonds portfolios, usually held through 401Ks. The more affluent you are, the more you’re invested in the market. Most people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. They’re concerned about the prices of groceries, gasoline, utilities, rent, and what have you. Many people don’t have rainy day funds. Their credit card debts keep climbing.
Trump means to reverse that. His broader economic goal is to create jobs, boost paychecks, and bring down costs. He’s concerned about the welfare of a majority of Americans, not the overreactions of a well-heeled minority. If Trump succeeds – the bet here is he will – then more of the American pie will be shared with a greater number of Americans, not just a privileged few.
Trump’s aim with trade and tariffs is, yes, reciprocity – meaning, hammering out fair trade agreements with other nations. High tariffs by other countries on U.S. products and services are protectionist measures. Those must go, for starters.
Not all Trump’s tariffs are meant only to level the playing field.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been abusing the “free trade” system put in place in the 1990s and early 2000s. China’s economy is built around cheap exports. Off-shoring American manufacturing has been a boon to China and U. S. manufacturers who are always looking to cut costs. Consumers have benefited by cheaper prices, too. But U.S. workers and small businesses – the latter being the engine of economic growth – haven’t.
Trump wants to restart the manufacturing engine here. Some tariffs are good in that they incentivize manufacturers overseas to build facilities here. It also incentivizes existing U.S.-based manufacturers and start-ups. That’s more jobs for more Americans. It will eventually result in competitive pricing – in other words, affordable – products and services, made domestically. More jobs, rising wages, and decreasing costs are goals.
Speaking of China, Trump’s tariff strategy is about more than economics. It’s about national security. Why do we want so much of what we consume in the hands of Xi Jinping and his communist cabal? We’re talking about medicines, steel, computer technology – the list is long. China also steals our technology and as much commercial and military intellectual property as it can.
China’s media is full bellicose threats of war with us. Xi’s Belt and Road initiative isn’t just about seeking economic advantages. It’s about choking off rare minerals and other resources that our evolving AI-tech economy needs.
When it comes to Chinese “management” of the Panama Canal, the PRC means to dominate that critical link between the Atlantic and Pacific. In time of war, that has profound commercial and military implications. Trump is in the process of ending China’s presence in Panama and its control of the Canal.
The broader economic program that Trump is pursuing involves making tax cuts permanent, slashing red tape, taking an ax to big government (DOGE is on that), and giving entrepreneurs and independent contractors the incentives they need to let their ideas, dreams, and work ethics take off.
Trump will succeed because World War II and the Cold War are long over. The post-Cold War world is played out. Trump sees the rot, unfairness, inequities, and growing failures of the system. His is a quest for an historic reset. I’m not being being Pollyanna. Bumps and disruptions along the way? Of course. But I’ll trust Trump’s experience, savvy, steely will, and business track record. He’s leading us into a new era – brighter and better for tens of millions of Americans.
