CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Reminder: US Tariffs are Taxes on Americans

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

On July 20, citing “discriminatory treatment of American products” by the Canadian regime, US president Donald Trump signed three proclamations raising Americans’ taxes.

Trump’s latest tax hike comes in the form of a 50% tariff on Americans’ purchases of Canadian imports “ranging from wine to hockey sticks to cement.”

Tariff supporters try to sell their desired tax increases on American consumers as “retaliation” against other regimes for “unfair” treatment of goods made by American workers and exported by American companies.

Odd form of retaliation, that — “you’re hurting YOUR people … fine, we’ll hurt OUR people — that’ll show YOU!”

And for for the most part, those other regimes aren’t the........

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