“We have been torn apart for decades by almost every country on Earth,” President Trump declared in a speech to Congress on Tuesday. “A myriad of other countries charge us tariffs that are much higher than we charge. …This system was not fair to the US and was never the case.”
Trump's solution? Mutual tariffs. “Whatever they tax us, we tax them.” Foreigners no longer sell their products freely in America, but at the same time close the door to American products.
Free trade is far from freedom. Friends and enemies alike use predatory trade practices towards America, exploiting America's indifference and weakness.
The president is right. Unfair trade with the Third World has inflated the trade deficit and led to major plundering of America. Our land is sold to the highest bidder. Our companies are purchased by foreigners. Our industry's secrets and advanced technologies can be stolen or shipped overseas. Everything is paying for endless “cheap” imported smorgas boards.
Globalism cancer has moved into all aspects of the American economy. At this point, tariffs are no longer a matter of economic necessity. America needs them to survive as independent people and sovereign nations.
Good things for geese…
In the first place, free trade in the world is not free. American industry is fighting tough battles around the world. As the President properly summed it up:
India charges automobile prices over 100%. The average tariffs in China on our products are twice as much as we charge them. And the average tariffs in Korea are four times higher. With that in mind, it's four times more expensive. … They do non-monetary tariffs to keep us away from their market. …In fact, it has received hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.
This is clearly true. Foreign tariffs price US-made goods from foreign markets. Meanwhile, foreign companies are free to sell their products in the United States. This explains why European countries like Germany and Italy run a huge trade surplus with the United States, despite the much more efficient American industry.
If the arena is at a level, American goods will be cheaper than European goods, and we dominate their market. Europeans know this, so they tilt the arena in their favor.
Foreign countries create a variety of non-financial barriers to trade, not just US commodity taxes.
China, for example, routinely violates common agreements on tariffs and trade, as well as multiple World Trade Organization agreements. They impose unreasonable and often unclear regulations and engage in dumping. To eliminate local competitors, they sell large quantities below costs, and if they keep their monopoly, they raise prices and curb the labor rights of Chinese workers. These practices reduce labor costs in China by an estimated 47% to 86%, depending on the industry.
China also provides extensive subsidies to exporters. Consider that between 2000 and 2006, approximately 33% of Chinese exporters sold over 90% of their goods overseas. In the context, only 0.7% of American exporters did the same during this period. This period is relevant as China joined the WTO in 2001. Essentially, China “cheated” to gain advantages earlier than the US.
This has snowballed at the transfer of wealth, the greatest in all human history. In fact, the cumulative trade deficit with China since 2001, and the cumulative trade deficit in 2024 exceeded $9.23 trillion. This is the money that should have been reinvested in the US but instead made to fund the rise of China.
President Trump's mutual tariffs help level the playing field. May the best man win.
Survival of the fittest
The United States faces an increasing threat from unfair and disproportionate trade relations that allow foreign economies to compete for US industries. These practices not only undermine the US economy, they also put the country's long-term survival at risk.
Researchers from a wide range of fields including political science, economics, evolutionary biology, pathology, botany, zoology, psychology, philosophy and mathematics investigated the optimal level of collaboration between groups. Depending on the context, these groups may consist of different species, genetically related plants and animals, businesses, or countries.
Despite the different contexts, researchers have come to a common conclusion. The most effective survival strategies combine intragroup cooperation with indifference or hostility towards outside groups.
Groups focused on sharing resources only among their own members – practices often associated with nationalism – increase the likelihood of survival. In contrast, groups that share resources freely with everything else, a distinctive feature of globalism, will increase the likelihood of survival for both themselves and their competitors. As a result, the Nationalism Group has consistently beaten the Globalist Group in the long run.
Research conducted by McGill University Simulations were used to model intragroup competition with various collaborative strategies. In this study, the globalist approach was called “humanitarian,” while the nationalist approach was labelled “ethnocentric.” The results showed that both strategies worked equally well in the early stages when competition was minimal and resource-rich. However, as competition became more intense and resources became scarce, ethnocentric cooperation became much more successful, ultimately beating all other strategies.
Intragroup cooperation focuses on benefits only on specific groups, whether it is a family, business, or country. This approach strengthens the group's survival prospects by prioritizing profits over outsiders' interests.
Since 1974, American trade policy has followed a globalist or humanitarian approach. This strategy includes dealing with all countries, even if you don't have a round-trip journey. In contrast, most other countries, particularly China, adhere to nationalist or ethnocentric strategies. They trade with us, but only on terms that benefit them.
In the long run, like all globalist strategies, America's commitment to international free trade is a death sentence. We cannot succeed in a world where other countries can exploit our openness without offering anything in return.
“Free trade” is far from freedom. Friends and enemies alike use predatory trade practices towards America, exploiting America's indifference and weakness. By allowing this, we force American businesses to compete with foreign state-backed businesses and workers who are earning wages near slaves.
This is not a free market or a fair battle. President Trump recognizes that economics is politics and money is power. Tariffs are a tool to restore balance.
To thrive, the United States needs tariffs to encourage domestic cooperation and protect its national interests. Customs duties are required Re-shore It creates industry, jobs and revives America's dreams.
