Consider the humble t-shirt. Labor costs make up most of the price, so it can’t be made in America. Does that present a problem?
To most people, no. There is no national security angle to t-shirt production, so the national objective should be to help consumers by keeping the costs down to the maximum extent possible. But to Donald Trump, the countries making the shirts are stealing money from Americans. He thinks that all trade deficits are a problem. What is his plan to deal with it?
He is putting tariffs on them. To what practical end? It doesn’t help America create a system of imperial preference, it doesn’t drive production back to our country, and it doesn’t impact China at all. What’s the point?