Quote:
Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe
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What you are promoting is not a capitalist system of trade. I don't know what you are proposing beit some kind of socialism or communism, but it is certainly not capitalist.
I'm not a former free-trade minister or anything like that, so my opinion on the matter is just that.
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Not proposing anything of the sort.
I was trying to state that it is unrealistic to expect a trade balance between the US and nearly any other country. The US has a lot more people than say Madagascar. Even if the per capita trade balance was equal, the US would have a trade deficit simply due to our larger population. There is nothing that Madagascar can do to change that regardless of how high the tariffs are set.
We can set truly reciprocal tariffs to get to a level playing field. That level might be 0% tariff or it might be 20% tariff but it can be the same. What is not possible is to set a tariff high enough to force a small country to purchase as much from the US as we purchase from them.
What higher tariffs can do is increase the price to the US consumer until they can no longer afford the imported product. An increase in prices is the definition of inflation. Driving inflation up and raising the price of a product until it is out of reach of the consumer can't be good for America.