Tariffs Are Not a Tax

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.  

Let’s say you go to a store to purchase a shirt. Whatever shirt you select, you must pay sales tax. (Note: there are five states that do not have a state sales tax). The sales tax must be paid for or else you cannot make the purchase.

Unlike taxes, with tariffs, we have a choice. If the shirt you select was exported to the United States from a nation with tariffs, it’s likely the garment will cost more than similar shirts made in the United States. If you don’t want to pay the higher price, you have the choice of buying a “Made in America” shirt or not purchasing the item.

It’s the same with automobiles. If the luxury Mercedes you covet is now $125,000 instead of the former pre-tariff price of $100,000, it’s your choice whether to buy it. You could consider an American manufactured luxury car, as the smarter option.

Ditto for almost all goods that American consumers desire. We have the choice between imported goods or those that are “Made in USA.”

The United States has a $1.2 TRILLION world trade deficit with China comprising a large percentage of that total – about 25 percent.

There’s going to be some pain as America transitions back into an industrial powerhouse and self-sufficiency. We must have a strong manufacturing base to prosper. If we don’t start producing essential goods, our enemies, that do produce those wares, technology and medicines (such as China), can cause us great harm. Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “… to think we’re the largest consumer market in the world, and yet the only thing we export is services, and we need to stop that. We need to get back to a time where we are a country that can make things, and to do that, we need to reset the global order of trade.”

Democrats should listen to what their leadership said in past years when they extolled the virtues of tariffs. In fact, on May 14, 2024 pResident Joe Biden announced tariffs on China. The Bloomberg article opened with:

US President Joe Biden unveiled sweeping tariff hikes on a range of Chinese imports, a move he cast as necessary to protect American workers and businesses from foreign companies he accused of stealing, cheating and dumping underpriced goods into international markets.

If President Trump was against tariffs, Democrats, when not destroying Teslas or rallying for Hamas, would be for them. This is why the jackass party is polling in the 20s. Their entire message is “orange man bad” and that’s so 2017.

In the meantime, President Trump is focused on helping Main Street, which will help Wall Street and everyone wins. Democrats whining about the necessary market correction were silent when the stock market plummeted during Joe Biden’s presidency. Consider what Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent recently said on The Tucker Carlson Show:

“Top 10 percent own 88 percent of equities in the stock market; next 40 percent own 12 percent of the market; the rest of us are in debt. So that’s the noise you hear, the top 10 percent screaming.”

The bottom line (pun intended) is that tariffs are NOT taxes since American consumers have a choice. We can buy imported items and pay more, or purchase American made items, which are usually cheaper. It’s as simple as “Made in America.”