There is a fundamental problem with slapping up tariffs with reckless abandon. After putting out enough tariffs, you find that all you have done is erect a trade embargo around your own nation.
Tariffs work if they are few and targeted. A tariff against a rogue nation as punishment for an invasion or covert nuclear program? That works, as you can effectively isolate the offender. But if you apply tariffs broadly, it soon becomes obvious that it is you who is the outsider, not the nations you are tariffing. All the nations you tariff can simply trade with each other and ignore you entirely.
No nation is indispensable to international trade. The South thought that King Cotton would save the South. They thought that without access to the South’s cotton, the British empire would be forced to intervene on the side of the Confederacy. Instead, all that happened was that the British eventually shifted cotton production to Egypt and India.
No nation is indispensable. No nation produces goods of such quality and affordability that the entire world trade system will bend the knee to accommodate their whims. You can put up a few targeted tariffs and keep things running. But if you apply them recklessly, eventually the global trade system simply cuts your nation out of international trade routes entirely, abandons you, and leaves you to your demons.
There is a fundamental problem with slapping up tariffs with reckless abandon. After putting out enough tariffs, you find that all you have done is erect a trade embargo around your own nation.
Tariffs work if they are few and targeted. A tariff against a rogue nation as punishment for an invasion or covert nuclear program? That works, as you can effectively isolate the offender. But if you apply tariffs broadly, it soon becomes obvious that it is you who is the outsider, not the nations you are tariffing. All the nations you tariff can simply trade with each other and ignore you entirely.
No nation is indispensable to international trade. The South thought that King Cotton would save the South. They thought that without access to the South’s cotton, the British empire would be forced to intervene on the side of the Confederacy. Instead, all that happened was that the British eventually shifted cotton production to Egypt and India.
No nation is indispensable. No nation produces goods of such quality and affordability that the entire world trade system will bend the knee to accommodate their whims. You can put up a few targeted tariffs and keep things running. But if you apply them recklessly, eventually the global trade system simply cuts your nation out of international trade routes entirely, abandons you, and leaves you to your demons.
!lostlemmyers@lemmy.world ?
Let him cook
wtf is there a joke im missing what is the context that led them to type this am i being gaslit XD