Townhall.com
Stephan Moore

President Donald Trump's aluminum and steel tariff policies have now triggered retaliatory tariffs from other nations, including Canada, the EU and China.

Last week President Trump imposed new tariffs on more than $30 billion of Chinese electronic equipment and other consumer goods. Our trading partners are now threatening to hit our domestic industries, including wheat, soybeans, pork, bourbon, blue jeans -- and even Maine lobsters. The financial markets are jittery, to say the least.

Even worse, China's tit-for-tat tariffs are now intentionally designed to antagonize Trump voters in Midwestern and Southern states. They are using tariffs as a political weapon. It's funny that the left doesn't seem to protest this blatant and dangerous foreign meddling in U.S. elections. They even seem to applaud this election interference by a hostile foreign power because Trump is the target.

In any case, the goal of these foreign-imposed tariffs aimed at the U.S. is to inflict maximum economic pain on American producers in order to force Trump to retreat.

Retreating isn't an option for Trump -- never has been and never will be. So this is a game Beijing can't win. For Trump to score a decisive victory, he will need to reclaim the moral high ground in this fight.

Our trading partners are claiming indignation that Trump has instigated all these trade disputes. Last week the Chinese accused America of "firing the first shot."

That's a laughable claim coming from Beijing. China's tariffs, according to a report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, are on average about 10 percent, while our tariffs are closer to 3.5 percent. This doesn't include non-tariff trade hurdles that make it extremely difficult for American companies to sell things in China.

We buy three times as much from them as they buy from us. Many U.S. companies complain, with justification, that to do business in China, they have to disclose trade secrets and patents, and in some cases surrender ownership rights of the firm. How is any of this "free trade"?

But even our European allies have created anything but a level playing field. Their tariffs are about 30 percent higher than ours, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers. This does not include the 10 percent to 20 percent value-added tax that is slapped on American products when they hit the shores of Europe. Trump has told our allies that he is not against free trade, but it must be reciprocal, and right now it isn't.

This is where Trump can and should change the terms of this debate. He should go back to an offer he put on the table at the recent G-7 meetings in Quebec with the Europeans, Japan and Canada: zero tariffs. Trump challenged the other leaders by proposing: "We should at least consider no tariffs, no barriers -- scrapping all of it." It speaks volumes about the trade debate that none of the foreign leaders, except perhaps Germany's Angela Merkel, had any interest. If the offer were made to China, the mercantilist leaders would be thrown off their high horse never to recover. These nations are more interested in bashing Trump as a trade warrior while retaining their own indefensible protectionist trade barriers.

All the more reason for Trump to seize the high ground in the trade debate by offering it up again and again as America's desired endgame. This is an idea that comes from Trump's National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow, and the good news is that my sources tell me the all-in strategy is being revisited at the White House now.

Zero tariffs would be the ultimate victory for totally free and fair trade. It would advantage the United States most because we already impose the lowest trade barriers. It would also expose many of Trump's severest critics as free-trade frauds. President Trump: You should do this, because the worst that could happen is our allies take you up on the offer.

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I'm almost fine with zero tariff plan.

Two issues come to mind. How do you handle dumping and intellectual property theft? This takes away our only weapon for these things. Also what about protecting vital industries or ones that without some form of protectionism couldn't survive when combating ultra low wage costs?

In the end it would favor us but we may lose a couple of products or industries.

Maybe allow each country to tariff $30 or $50 billion after that no more tariffs. Use that exemption to punish unfair players and protect the most important of vulnerable industries.

I always thought the goal was to get us to buy our own local shit at decent costs and let the made in china folks die off. We are a pretty heavy consumer of goods, theyll miss our money more then we'll miss thier cheapshit unless its toilet paper.

While there may be some "moral high ground" on this, I think it is irrelevant to the actual battle, because the media will never explain the situation fairly. Trump will be criticised no matter what he does.

So the only thing that really matters is whether consumers and businesses really see economic advantages in the not-to-distant future. The whole idea of a "trade war" is an invention of the media. It was not as if we had free trade, and then Trump started a Trade-war. China, and many of our so-called allies ALREADY HAD high tariffs on US imports. Trump was simply the first recent President with the gumption to fight back!

As long as a floating exchange rate exists between the two currencies involved in the trading, the country with the lowest tariffs wins.
https://youtu.be/c9STBcacDIM

A zero-tariff, level playing field is the goal.

To get there, is the problem. How to motivate the other side to drop their protections.......

If you're serious about it, you have to get their attention and establish the power relationship. This is a perfect time to do this...well, politically it could be a bit farther from the midterms, but economically, it's perfect. Our economy is hitting on all cylinders, inflation just starting up, stocks are high and corporate earnings are strong. Unemployment is at historic lows. Bottom line: we can weather speedbumps just fine, right now.

Speak softly clearly and carry a big stick demonstrate you can wield and remove punitive tariffs.

China sends us a WHOLE BUCH MORE than we send them.
They can't win here.