I’ve been reading up on the tariffs that were imposed during the Trump administration and I keep seeing mixed reviews about their effectiveness. On one hand, they seemed to protect certain domestic industries by making imported goods more expensive; on the other hand, there’s a lot of talk about higher prices for consumers and retaliatory measures from trading partners.

The thing is, these tariffs aren’t exactly popular among everyone. If we were to look back 1 year out, 2 years out, and even a few more years down the line, how will we actually know if this was a good move?

Surely there are some metrics or outcomes that can help us evaluate their success or failure. I guess it’s not as simple as checking stock market performance alone, although that’s probably part of it, right?

Is it primarily about looking at changes in trade balances with countries like China, or do we need to consider the broader economic impacts, such as job growth within certain industries? And how much weight should be given to the political ramifications, like strengthened relationships (or tensions) with trading partners?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what metrics or indicators would help determine whether these tariffs were indeed a beneficial strategy. Thanks in advance for any insights!

  • yarr@feddit.nlOPEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Trump is supposed to be in office for only 4 years, at best, after which his tariffs will go away. it would be easier to simply just not ship to the US. which is how trade partners responded to the Hawley-Smoot Act in 1930, and which made the Great Depression that much harder to get out of.

    Yes, I think this is very wise. So, unless we are just saying “well, I guess this 3.7 years is a loss now…” that’s the end.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      21 hours ago

      that’s jut it, though.

      They’re not saying the 4 years is a loss. the producers outside of the US… they’re just going to ship to new markets, and when things get less insane, then they come back. that’s all they need to do. Spinning up production in the US is expensive, costly, and it’ll take more time to complete than the whole reason for it will last- presumably.

      and if it lasts longer than four years, that’s probably going to be even worse, because then, well, yeah. the best case scenario is you get to write off all those losses. Worst case? it can get whole hell of a lot uglier as you lose IP and find yourself competing against your own designs.’

      So trump’s tariffs is driving imports away and killing local development of production at the same time.

      to put it in the simplest terms, it’s fucking stupid.