Here are three prominent rationales for the tariffs, and my responses:
1. America is the citadel of democracy. We wouldn’t have defeated Hitler and Tojo without our steel industry. True, but: (a) Hitler didn’t come from Canada, which apparently supplies a large share of our imports; (b) military needs account for about 3 percent of domestic capacity; and (c) weapons and warfare have changed a little bit since 1945. How much steel is required to build a drone or a cruise missile?
2. American industry grew up behind tariff barriers. Historically, there is a case for protecting cutting-edge infant industries. The American steel industry doesn’t exactly meet that standard.
3. Even if tariffs reduce the overall wealth of the country, they’re worth it, because they protect middle-class jobs. On what basis do you conclude that the jobs that we will lose as a result of retaliation aren’t for the middle class? If you’re concerned about inequality, why not skip the tariffs and support tax and spending reforms that help working people instead of plutocrats?
The fact is that tariffs are a particularly inept way of redistributing wealth, advocated by people who typically react with horror at the notion of government-imposed wealth redistribution, because the benefits go to workers, not the “undeserving poor.”