Donald Trump has grown increasingly fixated on tariffs, which he seems to think, contrary to the consensus among economists, are borne by foreigners. Trump understands at some level that economists and most business owners disagree with him, but rather than paper over their dispute, he insists — his insistence being an indicator of the depths of his conviction — upon trying to win them over to his side.
In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump made a remarkable, error-strewn diatribe in favor of tariffs:
Trump on tariffs: Our greatest wealth probably proportionately was in the 1880s.. we had so much much money all from tariffs… then you had the depression. A lot of people said tariffs caused it. They didn't, tariffs came in 1932 after the depression. pic.twitter.com/st3hYhvmSe
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