J C
Tomorrow —April 2nd, studiously avoiding April 1st’s jovial tone— will be what Trump and his economic team have long labeled “Liberation Day.” The President is all set to impose … something. But he hasn’t said what. And that is driving the media mucho loco.
I’m not sure that anything like these “secret tariffs” has ever happened before. Tariffs are usually vetted, trial-ballooned, and announced far in advance to give everyone time to get ready. But not this time. Once again, President Trump has shattered the normal rules, coyly refusing to say exactly what “Liberation Day” actually looks like.
Historically, tariff policy is boring, bureaucratic, and negotiated to death in back rooms by lobbyists and trade representatives. Even the big protectionist tariffs of the 19th century (McKinley, Smoot-Hawley, etc.) were protracted debates hashed out publicly and in Congress.
Even Trump’s 2018 tariffs were previewed and debated in advance — nothing like this.
Trump is basically weaponizing trade policy as political theater— transforming the idea of tariffs into a global media spectacle. And he’s obviously loving it.
The talking heads of doom have two main complaints. First, like talking Ken dolls, they keep pulling their cords and grousing that Americans actually pay the tariffs, not foreign countries. But nobody is listening to them, mostly because of the obvious hysterical reactions of Canada and Mexico, who frantically stampeded to Trump’s negotiating table to avoid tariffs. It sure doesn’t look like it’s no big deal to them.
The thing is, tariffs aren’t about who pays. They are about access to US markets. The TV experts are lying. Like always.
Their second complaint is the usual sob story about all the “uncertainty” leading to market volatility. And sure, markets hate uncertainty — but this isn’t a natural disaster or a banking collapse. This is one man holding down the suspense button. When Trump rolls out the actual policy tomorrow, the uncertainty will evaporate. The wobbly markets will rally, like they always do.
WaPo’s “experts” whined about a third, more generalized complaint. In another historical first, Trump has caused the WaPo to suddenly discover the blessings of free markets and “the benefits of an open world trading system.” Good for them. But it’s not a free market. Trump has often correctly pointed out that many other countries unfairly impose tariffs on American manufacturers, so there isn’t any “free market” to talk about.
Remember, these fake virtue-signalers are the very same people who cheered every regulation, central bank manipulation, ESG mandate, and the censorship of entire industries. For decades, they celebrated that there hasn’t been a true “free market” in global trade. Europe, China, Canada Mexico, and more — they all impose tariffs, subsidies, quotas, VAT schemes, and regulatory blockades, all rigged against U.S. producers.
Trump correctly points out that any so-called “free market” only exists on our side of the deal. For decades, other countries have piled on their tariffs, quotas, subsidies, and wild currency manipulation, while our sold-out, feckless leaders grinned, waved, and handed them the keys. Trump says he’s going to shut that racket down.
And if he does, the potential economic benefits are incalculable. After a short period of moderately painful adjustment, Trump’s field-leveling will likely trigger a Rust Belt renaissance— massive re-investment in American manufacturing, reshoring of strategic industries, stronger middle-class wages, and the long-overdue collapse of the post-WWII globalist order that’s always been subsidized by American consumers.
In other words: a short-term hit will land on Wall Street. But the long-term result could be a historic Main Street revival. And that’s just the part we can see.
Trump has also hinted at a much bigger, bolder vision. In his State of the Union speech last month, he casually floated the idea of creating an External Revenue Service — a federal agency tasked with collecting revenue from foreign countries benefiting from American markets, rather than shaking down U.S. taxpayers at home.
That’s not just a tax policy tweak. It’s a shot across the bow at the entire globalist free ride. The carefully complicated system of international trade designed to enrich our arrogant élites could come crashing down. No wonder they are freaking out.
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