Trump – were he not so preoccupied with Putting Israel First and bombing speedboats full of drugs (supposedly) that no one is forced to take (unlike the drugs he helped to push during the “pandemic” panic he abetted) – could at least address the compliance costs issue by explaining it to people. Or assign someone who does understand them to explain it to people. That would be the first step in the right direction. Then he might be able to reduce them, which would result in lower manufacturing costs. That, in turn, would reduce the incentive to manufacture things in places such as China, where manufacturing costs are so much lower, it not only costs less to manufacture things there – it costs so much less that it’s worth shipping stuff from there to here. Even with those costs folded into the mix, the Chinese-made stuff can be sold here for less than American-made stuff because it costs that much more to make stuff right here in America
Because of the compliance costs.
Instead, Trump levies tariffs as a kind of catch-all solution to a problem he does not understand – and like so many things Trump does, it will not end well for Americans. The latter already sense this. The gubernatorial and mayoral elections just concluded are a kind of referendum about this.
The Red Hats, of course, will never acknowledge this and that will seal their doom – as well as ours.
