Tariffs in American History

Source & Institutional Context

• Several commenters focus on Hillsdale College’s political and religious positioning: described as a conservative, Christian, movement-aligned institution and a Project 2025 participant.
• This leads many to question the neutrality of the lecture, calling it propaganda or “retcon” to justify current Trump-era tariffs, and noting lack of references or data.
• Some push back, arguing that Christian or conservative affiliation doesn’t automatically imply bad scholarship and that the piece is “just” a historical overview.

Tariffs: History vs. Current Use

• Many accept that historically, tariffs were central to US development (Hamilton, “American System”) and later to Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan.
• Multiple commenters emphasize: tariffs can work when targeted, time-limited, and tied to performance metrics (exports, competitiveness).
• The current US approach is widely characterized as broad, impulsive, and politically driven rather than technocratic industrial policy.

Implementation Quality & “Chaos vs. Stability”

• Repeated theme: tools aren’t inherently good/bad; implementation, predictability, and strategy determine outcomes.
• Criticism of Trump tariffs centers on:
  • Blanket, frequently changing measures that make planning and retooling risky.
  • Conflicting justifications (reshoring vs. “temporary leverage” vs. pure optics).
  • Economic damage (supply-chain disruptions, canceled investments) without clear gains.
• Defenders focus more on breaking an “unfair” status quo and forcing adjustment, with some explicitly embracing shock and instability as desirable.

EU–US Trade, VAT, and Cars

• Strong dispute over the article’s treatment of Germany/EU:
  • Multiple commenters state VAT is a destination-based consumption tax applied equally to domestic and imported goods, not an import tariff.
  • They argue the article’s framing of VAT as a trade weapon is misleading or outright false.
• Explanations for more German cars in the US than US cars in Germany:
  • Product fit and consumer preferences (size, quality, fuel costs, road design), not primarily tariffs.
  • Historical European production by US brands (Ford, GM) and EU production by foreign brands.
• Some nuanced points: higher VAT and fuel taxes shrink the European car market overall; US “chicken tax” on trucks distorted US vehicle mix.

Protectionism, IP, and Alternatives

• Debate on whether robust IP protection underpins US wealth, with counterexamples of early US and Hollywood IP theft.
• Several argue smarter industrial policy (CHIPS Act, targeted EV/tech measures, Norway-style agricultural tariffs) would outperform broad tariffs.
• Others warn US tariffs are largely emotional, nationalist theater that ignore services trade, global poverty dynamics (especially China’s rise), and environmental/quality-of-jobs tradeoffs.