Tariffs raise a basic question: do we want third world junk or jobs that allow Americans to actually buy something more than third world junk.

Americans have been broadly supportive of Trump’s tariffs, special interests have not. Their arguments however need work.

The Wall Street Journal blasted the tariffs in an editorial calling them ‘dumb’.

Mr. Trump also objected when we reported an analysis by the Anderson Economic Group that the 25% tariff will raise the cost of a full-sized SUV assembled in North America by $9,000 and a pickup truck by $8,000. Is this how the new Republican Party plans on helping working-class voters?

Which working class voters can afford a ‘full-sized SUV’ where the average starting price is $64,712? Raising that to $73,000 is meaningless for working class people. Might as well raise it to $730,000.

Even assuming that we take the Anderson report, which has a dog in this race, seriously, the WSJ is ignoring the details.

Using those figures, it predicts that even small crossovers will see at least a $4,000 price increase. Large SUVs with “significant content” from Mexico would go up by roughly $9,000 and trucks would see a similar bump.

Electric vehicles will get hit hardest though. AEG believes they’ll see an increase of $12,000 on average.

It’s hardly a working class tariff, it’s hitting the vehicles bought by the wealthiest people hardest.

But these are nightmare projections aimed at getting the Trump admin to waive tariffs on parts. As opposed to making them domestically.

Is the WSJ really concerned about the working class? If so, it ought to ask why the price of cars has skyrocketed. And a big part of the answer lies with our global trade entanglements. Most of the blame for car price increases was leveled on global supply chains. But now we’re being told that trying to decouple from those global supply chains is what’s causing price increases.