President Donald Trump’s latest declaration that “people who are against tariffs are fools” paints a confident but incomplete picture of economic reality. His assertion that the United States is now “the richest, most respected country in the world, with almost no inflation and a record stock market” has been echoed widely across his base, yet the underlying facts tell a more nuanced story.
It is true that Trump has long championed tariffs as a tool to restore fairness in trade, particularly against countries like China, which imposes steep import taxes on American goods. For years, U.S. industries have faced barriers entering the Chinese market, and Beijing’s tariff regime has indeed hurt sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. However, matching China’s protectionism with U.S. tariffs does not make America stronger. In practice, tariffs act as hidden taxes on domestic consumers and businesses. When the U.S. levies tariffs on imports, it is not China that pays the cost, it is American importers and households who face higher prices for steel, electronics, and everyday goods.
Economists from the Federal Reserve and independent institutes have consistently shown that the burden of tariffs falls almost entirely on the home economy. During Trump’s previous tariff wave in 2018, U.S. manufacturers saw costs surge, prompting many firms to cut jobs or raise prices. Farmers also suffered when China retaliated, forcing Washington to spend billions in subsidies to offset their losses. Far from being a wealth generator, tariffs became a costly political statement with limited economic gain.
The President’s claim of “almost no inflation” also stretches the truth. While inflation has cooled from its pandemic-era highs, U.S. consumer prices are still rising around 3 percent annually, nearly triple the pre-2020 average. The improvement is largely due to Federal Reserve policy, not tariffs. Likewise, record stock market highs have more to do with tech-driven growth and investor optimism around artificial intelligence than with protectionist trade policy.
Trump’s frustration over unfair trade practices is not without merit, but his sweeping conclusion that tariffs are the secret to America’s success ignores their domestic costs. Trade wars rarely produce winners; they merely shift pain from one group to another. The U.S. may indeed be a global powerhouse, but it is innovation, monetary stability, and open competition, not tariffs, that sustain that position.
In essence, Trump’s remarks reflect political theatre more than economic truth. The idea that taxing imports leads to prosperity sounds appealing, yet history shows that prosperity thrives not in walls of protection but in the bridges of trade that connect competitive nations.
