President Trump has propounded two false beliefs about tariffs which his followers have been parroting.
Myth 1: Tariffs are paid by the exporting country.
Trump claims China pays for the tariffs he imposes on imports from China. This is a stunning claim considering he has his line of clothing made there, and his daughter has fashion goods made there.
You can bet he knows better than what he claims.
Elon Musk has his Teslas made in China.
So much for America First.
I am surprised Musk has not publicly corrected Trump on this huge misconception. But then again, Musk is expecting Trump to exempt Teslas from tariffs. That's why he spent so much money to get Trump elected.
Tariffs are paid by the importers. US companies pay them. And they pass those tariff costs on to their customers.
Trump's tariffs are a tax on the American consumer, not China.
Here's the really evil thing about Trump's tariffs: He knows you are paying for them. He is lying when he says China pays them.
And we know this how?
We know this because Trump exempted his large donors from tariffs. Now why would he do that if he thought China was paying them and not those US companies?
During this latest campaign, Apple CEO Tim Cook donated $1 million to Trump.
And that is because Trump exempted Apple's products during his last tariff war, and Cook wants him to continue to provide that exemption.
Exemption grant process functioned as a “spoils system” rewarding political supporters and punishing opponents
news.lehigh.edu
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, will personally give $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural committee.
variety.com
We live in an oligarchy, and you are paying for their privileges.
Myth 2: We can eliminate the personal income tax and fund the government with tariffs.
The federal budget was indeed paid for prior to the 16th amendment.
But that was before we had infrastructure like dams, interstate highways, subways, and so forth. That was before we stopped factories from polluting our drinking water to the point it was catching on fire every year. That was before we began regulating companies from dumping toxic chemical into our water table and polluting our breathing air.
And that was long before we built a military which is 40 percent of total global defense spending.
40 percent. Of all this planet's countries combined. That's what it takes to keep our sea and air lanes open for trade.
Living off tariffs was before we decided to help those living in miserable squalor after we realized private charities just weren't doing the job.
It is naive beyond comprehension to think we could survive today without the income tax and revert to just tariffs.
You have to realize President Trump is a modern day P.T. Barnum. Or a Huey Long, if you will. He's a populist who says silly things to titillate the ignorant masses.