Tariffs targeting China, Canada and Mexico reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the American economy — and especially America's manufacturing challenges. While the proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been paused for 30 days, those on China remain, and there is little hope they will revive American manufacturing.

The uncomfortable truth is that we can't simply tax our way back to industrial dominance — we've lost not just factories but the entire ecosystem that once made American manufacturing great.

President Trump introduced tariffs for two primary reasons: first, to pressure Canada and Mexico into addressing U.S. concerns over immigration and fentanyl trafficking; and second, to reinvigorate American manufacturing. Although this second reason has received less attention, Trump put it front and center last weekend with a social media post, where he said, “We don’t need anything they [Canada] have … [We] should make our own cars.”

© The Hill