By Brad Torch
For someone who recently ran for public office, I have been extremely reserved regarding my feelings towards President Trump and his actions. Being in a political spotlight deterred me from commenting one way or another on his actions because voters are so quick to judge. The honest truth is that I respect the office of the Presidency that Trump was elected to by the process the United States uses to elect the President. I will not understate, that I do not agree with most of his policy nor his attempts to undermine our Constitution in attempt to implement his policies. I do not agree with most of his behaviors that are unbecoming of a United States President. I do believe he has likely had one of the most contested Presidencies in our history due to the growing separation between our political parties and the mainstream media’s ability to create misleading narratives on both the left and the right. I also believe Trump has brought much of his criticism on himself, with his misrepresentations of the truth and his stonewalling when it comes to answering important questions. There are positive policies that Trump has implemented that I do agree with, and are overshadowed by his behaviors, but for the most part I do not like most of what he has done as a President.
Now that I have gotten my personal views of Trump out in the open, I would like to address the tariffs that Trump has implemented. I understand his theory behind the tariffs imposed, but they are not working as assumed thus far, and he is only hurting the American people. Our economy is strong right now, however the implications of tariffs are going have economic consequences at some point in the future. The country has already had to bail out farmers twice since tariffs have been implemented on Chinese goods, and American companies have had to raise prices on consumer products, hurting sales for manufacturers. If this trend continues, manufacturers will have to cut costs by laying off employees, which is the exact opposite of what Trump intended to accomplish. Negotiations with China have failed time and time again, and I don’t see them blinking anytime soon.
This week, the United States will begin progressive tariff increases on Mexican imported goods in an attempt to force Mexico to slow down the influx of immigrants coming to the U.S. from South American countries. This to me, is a form of extortion, and I don’t believe the Mexican government is going to cooperate. U.S. companies will continue to pay the price for products that are needed from Mexico and will pass the increases on to consumers. While I do agree that we have a problem at the border, I do not believe that imposing tariffs will produce the intended results. We, the public, will be the ones who foot the bill. The Republicans in Congress, have also disagreed with the imposed tariffs, but have done little or nothing to reign in his power, and most of the American public does not understand the implications of these tariffs to rise up and put pressure on lawmakers.
I have thought about this extensively and have devised an idea to show the American people how these tariffs are affecting their bank accounts. It is in my experience that people don’t care about issues until they can see how it is hurting them personally. This is why transparency in our government is so essential and why truth in media is so important. I propose that retailers begin showing the increases on their price tags, in order to show the consumer exactly how much these tariffs are increasing the price we pay for our products. Vehicles produced from materials imported from Mexico will increase vehicle prices $1,500 or more. Chipotle reports a potential price increase, and other restaurants will also raise prices to maintain profitability. We need to show the American people how these tariffs are a bad idea and why we need to take a hard look at diplomacy over trying to penalize countries with extortion to accomplish our goals.
Torch/Provided