WASHINGTON – Not only is the world nudging towards a trade war with tariffs on steel and aluminum, there's a war bubbling to the surface between "free traders" and "fair traders" in the Republican Party and its conservative supporters.
The billionaire Koch Brothers – who have supported and applauded many of President Trump's policies and appointments – are in full disagreement with his trade policy, and have released an ad campaign criticizing tariffs.
"American trade – free trade is essential to prosperity. Tariffs are not the answer," the ad says.
President Trump responded Tuesday to Americans for Prosperity's announcement that they would not support Republican candidate for Senate from North Dakota – state the GOP hopes may build the Senate's Republican majority if Democrat Heidi Heitkamp were to be ousted. Trump wasn't happy:
Why have they never launched a campaign against tariffs imposed by other countries on our goods? Don’t they want free trade? Apparently only US tariffs are bad. There’s no incentive for other countries to engage in free trade if we allow them to impose unfair tariffs.
The open borders, never meet an illegal alien they did not like, wage suppressing Koch brothers are at it again.
Tariffs are a means to and end. We seek more investment in the U.S., good-paying jobs and economic growth and less government dependency. Almost every other country understands this. Europe has agreed to work towards total free trade. That never would have happened if we did not threaten tariffs.
This argument is as old as Adam…Adam SMITH, that is, and his essay, “The Wealth of Nations.”
If you know American history, you know that the complaint against high import tariffs almost caused the secession of South Carolina in 1824 when the Whig Party, strong in the North, attempted a high level of tariffs to support it’s “American Plan” of national-financed canals and “national” interstate roads.
Tariffs continued to be a sore point in the South right up to the Civil War, and was a major cause of that conflict.
What else would you expect from them.
They also support open borders!
http://time.com/5343074/libre-koch-congress-immigration/
Trump needs to bring tariffs in line. He supports the USA first.
Love Saves lives
Carl Lambrecht
Foreign govt, like China subsidizes manufacturers and put the American worker and american companies at a disadvantage. Most Americans demand fair trade, that’s why the tariffs were put in place
But why should we pay more! I already pay enough in taxes here!
Tariffs are taxes on foreign goods. If you buy American you won’t pay higher taxes.