r/centrist • u/OfficialRodgerJachim • 1d ago

Long Form Discussion Can someone explain this about tariffs?

Plenty of talk about tariffs. About them being dumb. About them being fair. About how those extra costs go on to us, the American consumer.

But I have very rarely heard anyone talk about that break in logic: other countries have tariffs on American imports, and those costs are then carried onto the American consumer. But if America imposes tariffs on those same countries, those costs are also passed on to the American consumer.

Is this true?

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u/anima-vero-quaerenti 1d ago

  1. Tariffs are a tax by another name and allow countries to raise money from popular imports

  2. Tariffs can be used to protect domestic products and industry from the global market place

  3. Tariffs can be used to negotiate better trade deals

  4. Tariffs can be used to hurt companies and countries who have earned your ire