Summary
AP reporter Josh Boak clashed with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt over Trump’s tariff policy, which she called “a tax cut for the American people.”
Boak challenged her claim: “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies, they get charged on importers,” Boak said.
Leavitt accused him of questioning her economic knowledge and later regretted calling on AP.
The tense exchange highlights ongoing White House-AP tensions, as a federal judge prepares to hear AP’s legal challenge over press access on March 20.
Is the real way to stick it to Canada (and others) is set a limit on the amount of product they can export to the US?
Well…
First off, why do you want to stick of to Canada. They, by and large, have been good neighbors to the US. The only people who get angry at Canada are usually Canadians.
That aside, limiting imports limits supply, likely increasing prices for whatever product has been limited. It’s not that different from the tariffs, as far as the consumer is concerned. The big difference is that it sets up a first mover benefit for the exporters/importers (if you get your whole supply across before the cutoff, you get to sell all of it, whereas later sellers might only be able to get part of their supply across. Faster companies benefit from this, to unknown effect.) as opposed to a capital/demand limit from the tariffs. (higher tariffs require higher prices, which often prices out some amount of people who would buy the item. Importers can try to narrow their unit margin or spend capital to sell more slowly. Companies with more capital can find it easier to afford either/both.)
I personally don’t want to stick it to Canada, but tariffs are 1D chess.
Even subsidizing makes more sense.
One of the big issues is that tariffs are protectionist in the same way as a space suit. Yeah, if the outside is hostile, it can protect you, but you better have things inside the suit already working to provide you with everything you need or you’ll end up far, far worse off.
