Tariffs Harm America: Free Trade Has Enriched the U.S. and Tariffs Should Be Eliminated
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "America Has Been Enriched — Not Ripped Off — by Free Trade | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." October 21, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author says tariffs work like a tax that raises prices for families and businesses, slows growth, and doesn't bring back manufacturing that can't realistically return. He argues free trade has made America richer for decades, so tariffs should be cut and government spending and deficits reined in.
Conclusion
The United States has been enriched, not ripped off, by free trade; tariffs are harmful to consumers, producers, and economic growth and should be reduced or eliminated, along with deficit reduction and an end to crony capitalism.
Premises
- Tariffs are ultimately paid by consumers through higher prices, and they also raise costs for producers by making materials and components more expensive (e.g., a 50 percent steel tariff raised the price of G90 galvanized steel from $0.60 to $0.90 per pound).
- Producer prices are rising (PPI up 6.3 percent annually versus 3 percent in 2025), which foretells higher consumer prices, and the U.S. now has sustained inflation and lower economic growth alongside sharply higher tariffs (average of 2 percent in 2000 versus 12.5 to 50 percent today).
- American prosperity over the last 60 years has depended on free trade, which is a positive-sum exchange that creates wealth, as argued by the School of Salamanca, Adam Smith, Bastiat, and Menger.
- Many tariffed goods (motors, machine tools, electronics, electrical components) are not and will never be made in the U.S., and onshoring requires enormous capital, years of time, and a skilled workforce that America lacks, so tariffs cannot deliver domestic manufacturing in these areas.
- Tariffs distort the choices of the best decision makers based on quality, price, and availability, create winners through government favoritism, and frequent changes complicate supply chains and spark trade wars with allies such as Canada and Mexico, harming even protected industries like steel in the long run.
Assumptions
- The observed rise in PPI and inflation is primarily caused by tariffs rather than by deficits, AI spending, or other factors
- Correlation between 60 years of free trade and prosperity reflects causation
- Tariff costs are fully or mostly passed on to domestic consumers and producers rather than absorbed by foreign exporters
- The theoretical case for free trade made by classical and Austrian economists applies to current conditions, including trade partners who impose their own barriers
- Market decisions are generally better than government-directed industrial policy
- Long-term efficiency and consumer prices should outweigh strategic, national security, or employment considerations