Tariffs are backdoor wealth redistributon in some sense. Hear me out. US export industries are more high tech with higher wages, imports are comparatively low tech. When US imposes tariffs it creates low-tech jobs in the US. When the trade partners impose tariffs they destroy high tech jobs in the US. The net result is high tech jobs lost, low tech jobs gained. Overall economic efficiency goes down due to loss of hig…
> When US imposes tariffs it creates low-tech jobs in the US. I can kind of follow your argument. I can see how it might be true for, say, the recent US steel tariffs (although I don't know enough to say that steel production is 'low tech' these days). But, in general, doesn't your argument depend upon which mix of goods the US includes in the tariff? I mean, I wouldn't call car engines, cell phones, memory chips, te…
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#81Good point. So much for my theory then.