Trump Says China Is Paying for His $16 Billion Tariff Bailout to Farmers. That's Simply Not True.
This might seem like nothing more than a snooze-worthy debate over semantics or economic theory or government P.R. strategies. But it matters a lot.
Free Trade
Buttigieg Would Lift 'Counterproductive' Tariffs, Which Are Just Taxes on Americans
"Tariffs are taxes on Americans—and we talk as if that's not the case; we forget that Americans are paying them," says Pete Buttigieg. That shouldn't be noteworthy, but unfortunately it is.
Justin Amash's Principled Stand Against Trump Will Not Make Him Popular in the GOP
Plus: Game of Thrones ends, Trump's trade war with China regrettably does not.
Trump Doubles Down on Ineffective Tariffs, Further Harming U.S. Farmers and Consumers
As messy as things are, they could get uglier still.
U.S. Will Lift Steel, Aluminum Tariffs on Imports from Canada, Mexico
Congress was unlikely to approve Trump's NAFTA rewrite while those tariffs were in place.
The White House Says Your Toyota Is a National Security Threat
Trump isn't putting any tariffs on imported cars right now, but the White House has released a report that effectively allows the president to do that any time he chooses.
Will 2020 Democrats Save Us From Trump's Protectionist Trade Policies? Don't Count on It.
Trade has made Americans better off, and Democrats should use every opportunity to make that argument in the face of Trump's trade war.
It's Time for a Course Correction in the Trade War
Trump's strategy was never going to be a winning one.
Trump's Malignant Mercantilism
The president’s double-talk about tariffs reflects his economically ignorant conviction that exports are good and imports are bad.
Stung by Tariffs, Farmers Seek Bailouts and More Protectionism
While Trump prepares another round of aid payments for farmers, Marco Rubio is pushing for tariffs on Mexican fruits and vegetables that will send prices soaring.
Trump's Latest Trade War Scheme Might Be the Nuttiest One Yet
The most likely end result of Trump's literal Buy American policy: lots of American farm goods rotting in federal warehouses
On Free Trade, Even Karl Marx Is Smarter Than Donald Trump
Marx “was a champion of free trade, and no friend of tariff barriers.”
The U.S. Just Imposed New, Higher Tariffs on China. Blame Trump's Faulty Trade War Strategy.
If the United States had pursued a different strategy from the outset of the Trump administration, it might now be in a position to counter China's hardball tactics.
Tomato Tariffs Pit Florida Against Arizona
America first? It really depends on what part of America you live in.
Tariffs Left His Distillery on the Rocks. Now He Wants To Know: What's Trump's Trade Endgame?
Is Trump using tariffs as a negotiating tactic? That's the most generous reading of his trade policy, but it's unsupported by the facts.
Should Libertarians Care About Facebook Bans?
Private property rights, public squares, "dangerous" speech, and pre-regulatory suck-ups, all debated on the Reason Podcast.
Market Crashes as Trump Threatens More Tariffs After China Trade Deal Flops
Is the president the only person left in America who doesn't understand that Americans are paying for his tariffs?
Paying Too Much for Natural Gas? Thank the Jones Act.
The federal law protecting the shipping industry from competition strikes again.
Trump Keeps Spreading Terrible Ideas About Trade
Once a protectionist, always a protectionist.
Grassley to Trump: End the Tariffs or We'll Kill Your NAFTA Rewrite
A key senator issues the sort of binary, transactional choice that Trump seems to prefer. Will the POTUS listen?
The Trump Administration Is Finally Admitting That Trade Wars Aren't Easy to Win
After overpromising the benefits and underestimating the costs, reality is starting to puncture the White House's messaging on trade.
Trump's Washing Machine Tariffs Cleaned Out Consumers
A new report finds the tariffs raised $82 million for the U.S. Treasury but ended up increasing costs for consumers by about $1.2 billion.
New NAFTA Would Boost U.S. Economy, but Fewer Cars Would Be Built Here
And they'll cost more to buy
In Latest Trade Negotiating Gambit, Trump Essentially Asks China To Put Tariffs on U.S. Manufacturing
But wasn't the whole point of the trade war to boost U.S. manufacturing?
The New NAFTA Is Exporting the Same Old Bad Habits
Protectionist policies produce negative results.
Standing on the Shoulders of Tyrants
Donald Trump's rhetoric is breathtakingly authoritarian, but so far he's done less than his predecessors to expand executive power.
Will Today's Global Trade Wars Lead to World War III?
The splintering of international economic interdependence is a worrying sign for peace through trade.
If Trump Closes the Mexican Border, America Will Run Out of Avocados in 3 Weeks
Oh, and the U.S. auto industry wouldn't even last that long.
Trump's Threat to 'Close the Border' with Mexico Is His Most Insane Trade Idea Yet
Closing the border would be a "profit-making operation," says Trump. That's not how any of this works.
Trump Was Asked Whether Imported Cars Are a National Security Risk. His Answer: 'No.'
That should be enough to end this silly debate. But what the president says and what the president does are not always the same.
Normalizing Trade Relations With China Was the Right Thing To Do
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's revisionist history of the U.S.-China trade relationship misses the mark.
The 4 Contradictions of Beto O'Rourke
He's a free trader against dumping, a deficit hawk for Medicare expansion, and an anti-drug warrior who wants to imprison pharma execs.
Trump's Trade War Was Supposed to Protect American Tech Companies. Instead It's Hurting Them.
"Bilateral tariffs result in lower GDP, employment, investment, and trade for the U.S.," a new report concludes.
America's Trade Deficit Hit a New Record High at the End of 2018
That's just fine, unless you happen to be a president who promised to reduce it.
Trump's Tariffs Cost the U.S. Economy $1.4 Billion Every Month
New study shows U.S. consumers pay every dollar of the tariffs, which have also damaged supply chains and the availability of goods.
With Key Deadline Friday, Is the Trade War With China About to End?
Any deal will be better than the current mess, which is largely of Trump's own making.
As Domestic Policy and as Foreign Policy, Trump's Automobile Tariffs Would Be a Disaster
Trump could destroy American jobs and America's relationship with Germany at the same time.
Lobbyists Are Making Bank on Trump's Steel Tariffs
Steel manufacturers spent $12.2 million lobbying the federal government in 2018, an increase of nearly 20 percent over the previous year.
After State of the Union, Republicans Face a Crucial Choice on Trade
There are dueling bills in front of Congress, both backed by Republicans. One would expand Trump's tariff authority, while the other would check it.
Is Congress Finally Getting Serious About Stopping Trump's Tariffs?
A bipartisan, bicameral proposal would stop Trump from using the tired "national security" excuse to justify his protectionist trade policies.
Trump Stands Up for Blue Collar Workers by Reducing Their Profit-Sharing Checks
Because of tariffs, Ford hourly employees will lose out on $750 they would have otherwise received.
Is the White House Considering Easing Chinese Tariffs? The Stock Market Hopes So
Dow Jones skyrockets on news that Steve Mnuchin is leading behind-the-scenes effort to reduce tariffs on China.
America's Trade Deficit With China Just Hit a New Record
And it's not a record low. That's fine, but it's not what the president said would happen.
'We Are Fighting for Free Speech Every Single Day,' Says Students for Liberty's Wolf von Laer: Podcast
What to expect at LibertyCon, the annual meeting of the largest libertarian student group on the planet (plus how to get 40 percent off registration).
Donald Trump Wants to Choke Chinese Tech Growth. An Import Ban Could Do the Opposite.
Attempts to control how artificial intelligence develops and is used could backfire.
Trump's Trade War Is Harming the Craft Booze Business—and Dragging Down the Rest of the Economy in the Process
Catoctin Creek Distillery's tariff woes show that no one wins a trade war.