Tariffs are just Taxes with a Different Name

When you impose a tariff on an imported article, its only paid if the item is, well, imported.

Its only going to get imported if it can be sold and assuming the seller doesn't intend to lose money, the sales price is going to include any tariff he has to pay.

This increase in price is therefore paid by whoever actually buys the item, and clearly that person in this scenario is an American resident, since the tariff only applies to items imported here.

You might say you can avoid the tariff by buying a domestic item, and that is true if a domestic item is available and assuming the price is competitive.

Of course the tariff does make it easier for the domestic supplier to compete, at least here, but it doesn't help them in other markets.

So you would still be paying more, but it would be an inefficiency charge, not a tariff.

Still its effectively a commerce tax taking money our of your pocket and putting it into an inefficient manufacturer.

I'm generally opposed to tariffs since they prevent the markets from being efficient but I do understand that they might have a place in domestic policy to encourage a particular sector or give it a chance to mature, temporarily.

Of course the tariffs being imposed now, in the name of national security, are simply designed to pander to certain business owners who can't compete on their own.

This is going to create a few jobs, but as the other nations retaliate and we lose sales and market share in markets such as China, we will lose far more jobs than we gain.

So will everyone else.

A real lose-lose strategy.