Trump’s tariffs just part of a bigger plan

While the Trump haters have used a dip in the stock market to continue harassing the president over his tariffs on countries which have taken advantage of America for too long and seeking to prevent his steps to create a stronger economy in the future, isn’t it about time the United States took steps to defend America on every front.

While I do not presume to know the ins and outs of international trade, it seems obvious that acts in the past have made our nation less safe than when we were the world’s business giant.

White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai said last week that “tariffs are just one of many economic tools that this president is using to unleash American growth and restore American greatness.”

China, for instance, has been robbing the United States blind for decades, using technology to intercept our scientific advances to their advantage, in addition to becoming the primary recipient of American factories as big business shipped them overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor costs.

While the system has resulted in lower prices for American consumers, the results have also made the U.S. weaker, due to its stripping its manufacturing facilities.

Additionally, cheaper prices don’t mean better, longer lasting products.

Desai added: “I think there’s a tendency to look at tariffs in isolation, but when you look at the fact that this administration is also plowing ahead on deregulation - the previous administration put on trillions of dollars in new regulation on the American economy. That means added compliance costs for our companies and for everyday people.”

America is dependent on Taiwan to make computer chips vital for up-to-date technology, including defense equipment.

President Trump understands the economy better than the average fellow, having built a successful worldwide business.

The president and his team – full of supportive and smart individuals – are working hard to halt the mountainous waste by the Deep State through DOGE.

While the Left is fighting back through Lawfare – Leftist judges issuing orders as if they were the chief executive– the Trump administration continues to do the heavy lifting, attempting to corral the wild spending by Deep State insiders who had gone berserk spending other people’s money.

That crazy spending had put the U.S. on the road to bankruptcy, which would be much more harmful to citizens than a temporary blip in the stock market at this point.

Desai also pointed out that Trump’s actions to this point have already created trillions of dollars in investment by major corporations, here and abroad, in American facilities.

Desai cited TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.], Apple, Hyundai, for instance, are pouring in trillions in historic investment commitments to make in America and that’s because of these tariffs and that’s because of the deregulation and that’s because of the energy being unleashed here.

The Left’s fake media will continue to focus on any issue they hope will make the president look bad. They’ve been doing that for some 12 years or better at this point with negligible success.

The Trump plan will bring down inflation, build the economy for American workers and make America safer in a dangerous environment created by the senseless efforts of the Obama-Biden administrations.

What Others Say

Columnist Josh Hammer on the Townhall site had some thoughts on the matter, commenting: “Whenever the subject of trade comes up, many right-leaning free traders and left-leaning neoliberals alike trot out the same talking point: ‘The economists all agree tariffs are terrible!’ And perhaps they do – or at least most of them do. Barriers to free and unfettered trade may well appear “inefficient” as a matter of an economic model’s ‘deadweight loss’ – and they may well conflict with David Ricardo’s much-heralded 19th-century trade theory of “comparative advantage.” It may well be the case that ‘consumer surplus’ is indeed harmed by restrictions on the free flow of goods.

But this is classroom theory. And the ‘dismal science’ that is the economics profession is not always known for its close relationship to, well, real life.

“After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, elites of both parties in the U.S., overly confident in their conviction that Western ‘openness’ had just defeated the Soviet ‘Evil Empire,’ rushed to implement a “Washington consensus” of globalization and trade liberalization. Never mind that Ronald Reagan had in 1987 just slapped crippling 100% tariffs on a wide variety of Japanese goods, leading – in fairly short order – to Japanese cars being manufactured across the American South. Instead, the new dispensation was summarized in 1990 by George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers chairman, Michael Boskin: ‘Potato chips, semiconductor chips, what is the difference? They are all chips.’ “True so as it goes, I, suppose, but the reality is, there is a tremendous difference. Consider the People’s Liberation Army’s increasingly bellicose military and exercises in the Taiwan Strait. It is perhaps only a matter of time before Xi Jinping finally pulls the trigger and invades Taipei – and the most obvious reason the U.S. cares, and for which the U.S. would potentially risk a harrowing conflict against the only other global superpower, is due to American over-reliance on the world’s leading chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. The People’s Republic of China actually defeats the U.S. in at least some war game simulations, and the main reason we would con sider militarily defending Taiwan anyway is due to a semiconductor company.”

Attacks Were Expected

The attacks on Trump’s policies could have been predicted before he announced them.

He was successful in rebuilding America’s economy – and its confidence – the last time he was president.

I’m anxious to see how his second presidency works out.

With his mandate from the American people to change things for the better and a better working knowledge of how Washington, D.C. operates, I’m betting on Trump.

The alternative will be a plunge into the authoritarianism the Left thought it had in the bag before Trump’s victory last November.

The Left can be counted on to continue telling the Big Lie, believing that if they tell it long enough enough people will believe it and restore them to power.

Grassley’s House Bill

The Daily Signal reported last week that Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Thursday introduced legislation with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to amend the Trade Act of 1974 to bring back congressional authority over tariffs.

“For too long, Congress has delegated its clear authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce to the executive branch. Building on my previous efforts as Finance Committee Chairman, I’m joining Sen. Cantwell to introduce the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 to reassert Congress’ constitutional role and ensure Congress has a voice in trade policy,” Grassley said in a press release.

A spokeswoman for Grassley noted to The Daily Signal that the senator’s legislation was a continuation of his efforts dating back to 2019.

That’s certainly worth considering. Part of today’s Washington problem is that Congress has failed to retain its constitutionally-authorized responsibility, delegating too much control to the executive.

See the column on the Grassley bill on Page 4 as well as Columnist Harsanyi, also on Page 4, for opposing opinions on tariffs.

VP J.D. Vance’s Thoughts:

“Now look, Chuck Grassley, I understand he’s worried about farmers. But here’s my message to Chuck Grassley: Do our farmers benefit when you have foreign competitors who send a lot of their farm products to the United States but refuse to let our great farmers send beef and other exports to those countries? That’s the whole problem here that we’re trying to fix. That unfairness is why the president implemented these reciprocal tariffs. And really, fairness is the name of the game same way that we’ve been open for business for decades,.

“Chuck Grassley’s a good guy. I know he’s worried about our farmers, but the way to fight for American farmers is to tell foreign countries you can’t stop what American farmers produce from coming in.”