U.S. manufacturing has fallen from 21-25% of GDP in 1950s to about 10% today. The decline is worse than the average of first world developed countries. The result is an unbalanced economy excessively dominated by services and imports.
Keynes believed that free trade could exacerbate domestic unemployment and economic imbalances and argues for the use of tariffs and trade protections to safeguard national industries, preserve employment, and promote the balance of trade.
Tariffs are becoming widely accepted by U.S. politicians and policymakers as an important tool for maintaining and rebuilding our industrial economy. But quotas, a related tool, can sometimes work better to restrain imports and encourage growth in domestic production, investment and jobs.
Tariffs are a progressive policy that reverse the negative economic effects of free trade, creating good-paying jobs, boosting working-class income, and reducing income inequality.
Proposals for new tariffs face a lot of criticism these days, from the media, from economists, and from foreign policy types. Part of the reason is that it’s Donald Trump making the proposals and many in those groups don’t like Trump. But the fact is that tariffs can work to build our economy. They have worked before and they have worked recently as well.
The U.S. dollar remains at about the same worldwide valuation in our latest quarterly Misalignment Monitor, continuing to create a double-digit import incentive to the great disadvantage of domestic U.S. producers.
Harley-Davidson announced it is moving production of its Pan America, Sportster, and Nightster bike models from the U.S. to Thailand. Harley’s growing Thailand production is directly incentivized by 60% Thai motorcycle tariffs and corporate tax breaks.
Deployments of solar power facilities in the U.S. by utilities, commercial customers,
and residential customers have risen substantially in recent years due to
technological progress, lower costs, and various tax incentives and credits from the
U.S. government.
As the demand for solar energy deployment in the United States continues to grow, foreign firms are reaping nearly all the benefits. Solar imports in 2024 are outpacing total demand and crowding out domestic solar manufacturers.
MP Materials, the only active rare earths mining company in the U.S., is making great progress. And yet at the same time, the company just reported a financial loss. The contradiction illustrates the challenges involved for the U.S. in rebuilding a rare earths industrial capability.
