Let’s get one thing straight: America wants its manufacturing back. Like a long-lost lover who left for China, Mexico, Vietnam, and India with promises of cheaper labor and more affordable gadgets, we now want it all to come home. And what better way to do that than by slapping some juicy tariffs on imported goods? Now tariff on our friends like Canada and EU too?
Trade wars, we are told, are like that tough love intervention. The goal? Two-fold:
1. Bring back factories to the USA.
2. Fix the trade imbalance, so we’re not always the one picking up the tab at the global dinner table.
Sounds brilliant, right? Like a rom-com script with a happy ending and manufacturing jobs dancing back into Detroit. But wait, before we roll out the red carpet and rename ourselves the United States of Assembly Lines, let’s ask a few questions that no one seemed to answer before starting this global economic drama.
Question #1: Do we even have the factories?
Short answer: Nope. Long answer: NOPE.
China currently does $7.0 trillion worth of manufacturing a year. The U.S.? About $2.5 trillion. That gap is not a pothole—it’s the Grand Canyon. And no, you can’t leap over it with a good ol’ American high five and a patriotic playlist. Do we even need to make these low cost items?
Question #2: Do we have the workers?
Also, not really. Remember when everyone was told to go into tech, finance, or become a YouTuber? Yeah, that didn’t create many machinists or great engineers. But here’s where it gets interesting: robots and AI are catching up. In a few years, we could build smart factories. The question is, are we investing in that? Or just raising prices on toaster ovens and pretending it’s progress?
Meanwhile, back at the checkout counter…
Here’s what actually happens with tariffs:
A product from abroad gets taxed. The government says, “Oh, only 30-60% of that will be passed on to the consumer.” That’s a cute way of saying, “You’re going to pay more for literally everything, but we’ll pretend it’s for your own good.”
Exporters might lower their prices. Importers might cut profits. But let’s be real—neither of those groups like doing that. So guess who ends up holding the bag (or, more accurately, the overpriced bag of rice)? You, dear citizen.
Now, the government collects some of that sweet tariff money. Victory? Sort of. It’s like winning a game of Monopoly by taxing everyone out of the game—then using the money to fund wars or give billionaires a tax cut so they can buy another yacht with a built-in helipad.
Meanwhile, the American middle class is just trying to afford a roll of toilet paper.
Yes, the idea of “Make America Great Again” is noble. But maybe let’s not bulldoze what’s already working just to rebuild it with more expensive bricks. We already dominate in innovation, services, military, AI, and… uh… streaming TV shows. Let’s play to our strengths!
Instead of trade wars, how about trade smarts?
• Invest in smart factories and robot-assisted production.
• Educate the workforce so they’re ready for the jobs of the future, not the 1950s.
• Use AI to make healthcare better (and actually affordable).
• And for the love of all things decent—let people buy affordable toilet paper again.
Let’s not forget—we the USA helped build China’s factories. We trained them, supplied them, outsourced to them, and then got mad when they got good at it. That’s like training someone to play chess, losing, and flipping the board.
Bottom line: No country is richer, nicer or better than America. We send billions and billions of dollars to the world over the years and continue to do so with our tax money! But other countries are all developing; But that doesn’t mean we act like the jealous ex throwing tariffs like tantrums. Let’s not sink our own economy out of spite.
This isn’t just economics. This is therapy. And America needs to talk it out, not tariff it out.
Signed,
A Concerned Citizen with a Receipt from a store That’s 30% More Expensive Than Last Year, 15% down in 401k and watching the world brazen for more financial storms! Love you America just don’t lose your cool image!
www.nytimes.com
