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Trade is Why the USA is a Super Power and Tariffs Undermine Everything
“No country can succeed without strong trade ties. Nations rise and fall on their ability to export their ideas, goods, and services to the world.” — Peter Zeihan
Trade has been the lifeblood of America since its inception. From the earliest colonial ships bringing in textiles to modern container ships stacked high with electronics and machinery, trade is both America’s origin story and its future. The post-World War II era, in particular, cemented the United States’ global influence as it brokered peace through commerce. But now, there’s a new storm on the horizon — one that looks eerily similar to the ghosts of Smoot-Hawley past: tariffs.
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and policy that taxes foreign products to encourage or safeguard domestic industry.[1] Protective tariffs are among the most widely used instruments of protectionism, along with import quotas and export quotas and other non-tariff barriers to trade.
