We export less than half the $ value that we import.
So I don’t really care if exporters scream.
But we do need to get out of the GATT if it prevents us from raising tariffs. Or we need to put in provisions that allow us to raise tariffs if our unemployment is high.
“So I don’t really care if exporters scream.”
Bush put the tariff on steel to get votes in Pennsylvania. Our trading partners targeted industries in other key venues where Bush needed support. Wisconsin cheese, was one I remember. Electronics produces by TI was another. People who know they’re getting laid off because of something the president did will likely vote against him. That is why Bush recanted. It lost him the steel workers votes but it gained him thousands of others. So, it’s not an issue of some greedy, rich exporter. It’s an issue of the greedy, rich exporter’s workers and their votes.
I don’t trust any of the analyses I’ve read about the supposed benefits of international trade because globalists funding might be behind them.
We have alcohol in our gasoline because we lost another trade case. Turns out we were subsidizing our farmers. So, Congress made energy independence and alcohol a defense priority, which was allowed under the GATT. We went back to subsidizing farmers. (True story.)