# Will Trump's tariffs help him in the next presidential election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 9, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285 "2018-03-09T15:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/121 "2018-06-06T21:03:04Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Good idea. How about Trump set the example and manufacture his products in _this_ country? He does. All of Trump’s incompetence, lies, bigotry, ignorance, and tweeterrhea are 100% Made in the USA by the orange buffoon & co. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/122 "2018-06-06T21:16:30Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Economists who consider trade deficits to be bad believe that a nation that consistently runs a current account deficit is borrowing from abroad or selling off capital assets—long-term assets—to finance current purchases of goods and services. > > … That’s an awesome opinion that you claim is held by economists who consider trade deficits to be bad. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/123 "2018-06-06T21:39:20Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Economists who consider trade deficits to be bad believe that a nation that consistently runs a current account deficit is borrowing from abroad or selling off capital assets—long-term assets—to finance current purchases of goods and services. Such a pity that opinion is held by [so few economists](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/us/politics/trade-deficit-tariffs-economists-trump.html). Your position would be so much stronger if you didn’t use such simpletons to defend it. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/124 "2018-06-07T00:28:44Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Economists who consider trade deficits to be bad believe that a nation that consistently runs a current account deficit is borrowing from abroad or selling off capital assets—long-term assets—to finance current purchases of goods and services. Wow, the depth of your economic knowledge is astounding! The sentence Silver Lining expert provides is cut and paste from the academic stylings of Info Please’s “[homework help/social studies](https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/social-studies/international-finance-trade-deficits-bad-or-good)” > [@The Link](#): > > As usual in economics, there are several different views of trade deficits. Depending on who you talk to, they are bad, good, both (depending on the situation), or immaterial. However, few economists argue that trade deficits are always good. > **Economists who consider trade deficits to be bad believe that a nation that consistently runs a current account deficit is borrowing from abroad or selling off capital assets—long-term assets—to finance current purchases of goods and services.** They believe that continual borrowing is not a viable long-term strategy, and that selling long-term assets to finance current consumption undermines future production. (If this reminds you of the discussion about federal budget deficits and the national debt, that’s no accident. The mechanisms at work are similar.) (My emphasis) And the conclusion of Silver Lining’s fount of wisdom? > [@](#): > > Economists who consider trade deficits good associate them with positive economic developments, specifically, higher levels of income, consumer confidence, and investment. They argue that trade deficits enable the United States to import capital to finance investment in productive capacity. Far from hurting employment, they believe that trade deficits financed by foreign investment in the United States help to boost U.S. employment. > Some economists see trade deficits as mere expressions of consumer preferences and as immaterial. These economists typically equate economic well being with rising consumption. If consumers want imported food, clothing, and cars, why shouldn’t they buy them? That range of choices is part of a successful economy. > Perhaps the best view of trade deficits is the balanced view. If a trade deficit represents borrowing to finance current consumption rather than long-term investment, or results from inflationary pressure, or erodes U.S. employment, then it’s bad. If a trade deficit fosters borrowing to finance long-term investment or reflects rising incomes, confidence, and investment—and doesn’t hurt employment—then it’s good. If a trade deficit merely expresses consumer preferences rather than these phenomena, it is immaterial. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/125 "2018-06-07T03:52:42Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Wow, the depth of your economic knowledge is astounding! > > The sentence Silver Lining expert provides is cut and paste from the academic stylings of Info Please’s “[homework help/social studies](https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/social-studies/international-finance-trade-deficits-bad-or-good)” > (My emphasis) > > And the conclusion of Silver Lining’s fount of wisdom? That is STRIKINGLY similar. And without a quote, link, or acknowledgement! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/126 "2018-06-07T06:30:55Z")
So, trade deficits are terrible, like having Cocaine Frosted Cheerios for breakfast and washing it down with vodka. Or they are healthy, like bran muffins, yoga and a five mile jog. Or they make no difference at all. Well, glad we got that cleared up, because before I always found economics to be confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/127 "2018-06-07T07:17:08Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Wow, the depth of your economic knowledge is astounding! > > The sentence Silver Lining expert provides is cut and paste from the academic stylings of Info Please’s “[homework help/social studies](https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/social-studies/international-finance-trade-deficits-bad-or-good)” > (My emphasis) > > And the conclusion of Silver Lining’s fount of wisdom? _Wow_. So not only is this high school level econ 101, it’s selectively quoted high school econ 101. Please, tell us more about economics, **Silver Lining**. Quick, what’s your opinion on liquidity traps? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/128 "2018-06-07T14:56:23Z")
Always clean your liquidity traps regularly or they could stifle investment and/or go all moldy. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/129 "2018-06-07T16:04:31Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Wow, the depth of your economic knowledge is astounding! > > The sentence Silver Lining expert provides is cut and paste from the academic stylings of Info Please’s “[homework help/social studies](https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/social-studies/international-finance-trade-deficits-bad-or-good)” That is really, really sad. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/130 "2018-06-07T17:15:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, trade deficits are terrible, like having Cocaine Frosted Cheerios for breakfast and washing it down with vodka. Or they are healthy, like bran muffins, yoga and a five mile jog. > > Or they make no difference at all. Well, glad we got that cleared up, because before I always found economics to be confusing. Or you could just adopt the Trump model of economics: Small numbers are bad, big numbers are good. (“What? We have a negative trade imbalance?? Negative is bad! It’s actually a trade _deficit_? Deficits are never good! We want bigly numbers. Always **bigly**!”) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/131 "2018-06-07T19:04:29Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Wow, the depth of your economic knowledge is astounding! > > The sentence Silver Lining expert provides is cut and paste from the academic stylings of Info Please’s “[homework help/social studies](https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/social-studies/international-finance-trade-deficits-bad-or-good)” > [@Slash1972](#): > > That is really, really sad. Not as sad as this: > [@Attributed article source](#): > > Excerpted from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Economics © 2003 by Tom Gorman. Gotta hand it to _The Complete Idiot’s Guide_. They sure know how to target their audience. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/132 "2018-06-07T19:44:01Z")
It doesn’t look like he has posted since Moriarty busted him. Ha Ha. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/133 "2018-06-07T21:18:02Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Economists who consider trade deficits to be bad believe that a nation that consistently runs a current account deficit is borrowing from abroad or selling off capital assets—long-term assets—to finance current purchases of goods and services. If you are going to copy and paste,[cite your source](https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/social-studies/international-finance-trade-deficits-bad-or-good). Otherwise use your own words to avoid copyright violations. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/134 "2018-06-08T19:27:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Such a pity that opinion is held by [so few economists](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/us/politics/trade-deficit-tariffs-economists-trump.html). Your position would be so much stronger if you didn’t use such simpletons to defend it. Do most economists agree the USA economy is doing extremely well under Trump? Bottom line, if you export more, you will gain more jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/135 "2018-06-08T20:08:48Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Bottom line, if you export more, you will gain more jobs. If only we had a president who knew how to do that. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/136 "2018-06-08T20:24:25Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Do most economists agree the USA economy is doing extremely well under Trump? > > Bottom line, if you export more, you will gain more jobs. While there is a correlation to be made there, in that most of the time, increasing exports will result in more jobs, that has nothing to do with the other side of the equation. You have not shown that cutting imports will increase jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/137 "2018-06-11T08:39:17Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Do most economists agree the USA economy is doing extremely well under Trump? You tell us. Bonus points if you can demonstrate those same economists attribute the state of the economy to Trump rather than as a continuation of the growth that has been happening since 2010 under Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/138 "2018-08-07T23:36:23Z")
South Carolina manufacturer says it’s closing plant over Trump tariffs > [@](#): > > Element Electronics, a consumer electronics company in South Carolina, says it will be closing its plant in Winnsboro due to tariffs imposed by President Trump. > > The State reported Tuesday that the company was one of the largest remaining employers in Fairfield County after the local Walmart, which used to be the largest grocery store in the county, closed its doors two years ago. [http://thehill.com/policy/finance/400761-south-carolina-manufacturer-says-its-closing-plant-over-trump-tariffs?amp&\_\_twitter\_impression=true](http://thehill.com/policy/finance/400761-south-carolina-manufacturer-says-its-closing-plant-over-trump-tariffs?amp&__twitter_impression=true) ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/139 "2018-08-07T23:49:39Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > South Carolina manufacturer says it’s closing plant over Trump tariffs > [http://thehill.com/policy/finance/400761-south-carolina-manufacturer-says-its-closing-plant-over-trump-tariffs?amp&\_\_twitter\_impression=true](http://thehill.com/policy/finance/400761-south-carolina-manufacturer-says-its-closing-plant-over-trump-tariffs?amp&__twitter_impression=true) I doubt tariffs have any serious political consequences until after the mid-terms. There will be worries - there already are. But economic war with China has been talked about for a good 10-15 years and most people aren’t yet aware that this is real, and just how real things can get. Ordinary people probably like the idea of a scrap with China. They’ll naively believe that Trump will bail them out, and he’ll try at first. But he’s grossly miscalculating the damage that specific sectors of the economy are about to sustain. He’s already demonstrating an alarming obliviousness to the consequences of a prolonged trade fight, and I’m honestly not sure even his more guarded economic advisors truly understand the consequences either. So when China refuses to bend, I don’t expect Trump to have the self-awareness and mental clarity to admit he made a mistake; instead I expect him to start moving from push to shove, and from shove to blows. What I worry about as much as anything is that he will use his animosity with China to stir up anti-immigrant sentiments against Asians and Asian Americans not seen since the 1940s. He will run out of ideas and will begin scapegoating people at home. That’s usually the path that wars of nationalism eventually take. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285/140 "2018-08-08T14:20:13Z")
It depends. If they serve the purpose of getting other countries to lower their tariffs, maybe it will help him. If they don’t, and the economy gets worse, it will hurt him. Too soon to say. But it seems like Trump likes tariffs regardless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trumps-tariffs-help-him-in-the-next-presidential-election/810285.md?page=8)