Does every country in the world maliciously connive to keep their currency low vs the dollar? Currency valuations are not tariffs and it is absurd to compare them to a tariff.
These tariffs are a huge mistake according to almost every mainstream economist, I hope instead of parroting the party line you’ll be able to admit their failure in a few years.
So does every country in the world, this is neither surprising nor reason to slap tariffs on imports (which will hurt US consumers).
> I have no idea if the tariffs will work
We have lots of examples from history of tariffs not working, so there is that. They lead to trade wars, and then sometimes to real wars, never to prosperity.
The unparalleled prosperity the US enjoyed in the last few decades before 2008 was driven by open global trade and being the currency of last resort and the centre of world markets. I think there is a lot of complacency in the US about that position, and we're seeing the beginning of the end.
Interest rates, taxes, subsidies and reserves also affect currency value.
The US uses selective tariffs already, which is fine though not actually that helpful IMO, what is new is absurdly high punitive and blanket tariffs on everything. This will tank the stock market, raise prices, cause a recession and perhaps most importantly ruin the reputation of the US as a safe haven.
The absurd tariffs on trading partners that don’t matter like Laos are a perfect illustration of how much thought went into this.
Trade with other nations?
These are exports to the US, which is 25% of the world’s GDP.
Who is going to replace that demand?
You think Vietnam, where 30% of GDP are US exports, is going to be hurt less than the US where Vietnam makes up 3.9% of imports?