President Donald Trump’s supporters have justified his tariff war in various ways. One way to defend the ongoing chaos is to say they’re a negotiating tool for Trump to save us from being victimized by other countries.
But that’s not the big one Trump supporters tell themselves.
A defense of Trump’s policies comes from supporters who insist that they will bring good manufacturing jobs back to America. But are Americans craving more of those jobs? For the most part, no.
Trump and his allies are purporting to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. While Trump’s approach to trade makes sense for some critical industries in our efforts to combat China, his broad use of tariffs disrupts the economy for most Americans in favor of a few.
Trump’s economic policies resemble socialist attempts at protecting industries from natural market forces, rather than traditional conservative policies that follow a market approach.
Trump and his supporters seem to disdain the free market because it means the economy will efficiently decide what’s best. He wants to control it out of a nostalgia for the era of American manufacturing dominance and is willing to sacrifice the strength of our economy for that misplaced sense of loss.
Trump’s tariffs will weaken the rest of the economy in order to help a small percentage of those who are unemployed. Weakening the corporate class in favor of manufacturing appeals to Trump voters, but it is bad for America as a whole.
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Team Trump’s messaging is politically strong among their base, the supposed “forgotten American,” but it’s not rooted in reality. There are reasons that America outsourced manufacturing: They aren’t good jobs. Those who work in manufacturing express dissatisfaction with pay, flexibility, conditions and nearly every other facet of the job.
Americans seem to agree. While 80% of Americans say “America would be better off if more Americans (work) in manufacturing,” just 25% agree that “I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”
Remaking the entire American economy in favor of a minority of people is not a good practice, but the populist right doesn’t care, because that minority is part of their voter base.
America isn’t even able to fill its open manufacturing positions now. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, there are nearly half a million open manufacturing roles in America today. America is in the midst of a labor shortage, with millions of open jobs, more than the number of unemployed people seeking employment.
The uncomfortable truth for those on the populist right is that America’s relatively low unemployment of 4.2% isn’t due to a lack of open positions.
A McKinsey survey found that only 33% of those unemployed are willing to relocate for a job, and that 40% have differing pay expectations from employment opportunities.
There are national security arguments for restoring American manufacturing, insulating our supply chains from international forces, but even those concerns are somewhat misplaced.
The manufacturing that does exist in America has become more efficient due to technological innovation over the past several decades, resulting in a net increase in output despite a decrease in manufacturing employment.
Compared with our rival China, the American worker is far more efficient. China only surpasses America in total manufacturing output because of its massive population advantage.
However, where Team Trump’s arguments actually work is the defense industry. There are reasons for national defense to take place in America, even if it isn’t the cheapest or most efficient. To preserve our security in times of war, American manufacturing of weapons, vehicles and other goods necessary for the military needs to primarily be made here.
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The fact that Trump’s tariffs are disrupting supply chains responsible for weapons manufacturing is a perfect example. Neither presidential action nor global supply chain issues can be allowed to hinder American defense manufacturing. We should do everything possible to isolate that industry from those forces.
As is true for many of Trump’s policies, they have a purpose when applied narrowly, but he is incapable of precision. Instead, he uses the tools as a blunt instrument, without regard for the consequences.
Trump is right that we cannot allow our defense supply chains to be vulnerable to external influences, but Trump takes that same argument and applies it to the entire economy. He’s wrong about that.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
Trump is using a tariff war to solve a problem that doesn't exist | Opinion – USA Today
