In 1626, the Canarcy sold Manhattan Island in Dutch, selling beads and trinket boxes.
Historians debate this story ferociously. Some argue that the Dutch were scamned and that Canarcy was strongly armed to make a bad deal. Others claim that both sides are happy. The lands that the Dutch needed, and Canarcy wanted European technology and luxury. Some suggest that Canarcy had deceived the Dutch and the neighboring tribes. They did not own any land that was allegedly “sold.”
We currently pay more than $150 billion in interest to foreign institutions each year for the privilege of purchasing the products we are to build.
You may not agree with the reason Canarsee sold Manhattan, but almost everyone is trying to justify it. Certainly Cannarcis wasn't that stupid? No one will trade the land for beads!
Unfortunately, the lessons of history are lost to politicians. Think of the United States as having a trade deficit for over 40 years. Last year, the trade deficit was $1.2 trillion. Deficits are added: When all deficits since 1974 were combined to adjust for inflation, they spent more than $25 trillion on imports. $73,000 for all men, women and children.
How did you pay for all of this? We sold assets and debts such as land and businesses. I replaced the land with Chinese beads.
More importantly, how do we stop the looting of America? Customs duty.
Once upon a time in the west
Simply put, a trade deficit occurs when importing (purchase) more to other countries during a certain period than exporting (sales). Typically, different countries buy and sell different things depending on the season, so they look at numbers beyond the annual standards.
For example, if the US bought an orange worth $100 from Japan in November, but sold an apple worth $50 in July, the US said it had a trade deficit of $50 with Japan that year. Conversely, we say that Japan operated a 50-dollar trade surplus with the United States. The overall difference is called the balance of trade.
Of course, in real life, America buys more than an orange and sells more than an apple. We buy and sell all kinds of products, from apples to iPhones, or cars. So when media personalities talk about trade deficits, they usually refer to the overall trade deficit of goods, that is, the deficit between all physical products bought and sold by the United States from all other countries.
In 2024, the US trade deficit was $1.2 trillion. This is a huge amount. It is roughly the same size as the GDP of all countries, such as Mexico, Indonesia and Türkiye. Since 1973, it has been carrying out a trade deficit every year.
Check free money for free
How will the US pay the trade deficit? There are only four ways and four ways we can get foreign goods. First, you can get free gifts such as foreign aid and Statue of Liberty. Sadly, the Chinese are not giving us anything free. This option is published.
Secondly, you can exchange something. America does this by selling surplus services (think banks and big technology). This will mark the 2024 deficit of $918 billion, but it is still huge. We pay the rest by selling assets and liabilities.
Third, we sell assets. Assets are something we created in the past and still hold their value.
A good example of assets is home. The production of the house, which was built in 1974, contributed to America's GDP in 1973, but not today. However, the house and land retain their value and can be sold to buy foreign products this year. This sale does not count towards US GDP and does not take into account the trade deficit, but balances payments.
Just like Canarsee, America trades assets – from the best farmland in Iowa to the stocks of New York's largest corporations, everything pays for the trade deficit. For example, in 2024, foreigners purchased an estimated $42 billion.
Residential Real Estate$8 billion Agricultural landand commercial real estate worth $12 billion.
In addition to real estate, Americans also sell ownership of our business. As of June 2023, foreign investors owned approximately 17% of the US stocks. Ownership of our company has dire consequences, including giving foreign governments direct access to our technology. This will perpetuate it
Massive theft of American intellectual propertyit is estimated that the US costs up to $150 billion each year.
Fourth, Americans sell debt. This is like buying groceries with a credit card, except that it's happening at the national level. For example, foreigners own approximately $8.67 trillion in US Treasury securities, accounting for 24 public debt. Furthermore, American corporate and household debt has swelled to the highest level since 1973 and since World War II.
Debts are particularly dangerous as we have to pay back the principles and we have to pay interest. This inflates the cost of purchasing foreign products in a way that most economists wouldn't appreciate. Consider that America became a debtor's country in 2006 – the first time since Great Repression. As a result, we currently pay more than $150 billion in interest annually to foreign companies due to the privilege of purchasing the products we are to build.
The miserable strait
Over the past 40 years, America has spent trillions of dollars (dollars we didn't have) on foreign goods. To pay for this mess, we sold our country's land and ownership and mortgaged the future of our economy. To add shame to injuries, we have made ourselves vulnerable to immeasurable levels of intellectual property theft that put both our economy and national security at stake.
We have to do something to dam the flow of wealth from America. Solution? Customs duty.
Tariffs are a real solution that America's most successful presidents, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, supported by Donald Trump. Customs will do so
Re-shoreIt will move American industry and our economy from consumption to production, protecting the economy, industry and national security.
Most importantly, tariffs will stop America from exchanging land for beads.
