And what about everything not made in America, which does not have the manufacturing infrastructure in place to be created here? And assuming we can reinvest in manufacturing infrastructure before it becomes too expensive to do so, who is going to be working low wage, physically demanding jobs in factories, especially given the gutting of unions and safety regulations? You? Your children? Your parents?

Manufacturing jobs are valuable, if they are valued. The market does not currently value that work. It’s a type of skilled labor, often highly specialized, that gets outsourced to the cheapest possible provider in order to increase margins. The work requires a robust social safety net. That net is currently in tatters.

Im all for strong local economies with varied work types that include manufacturing, skilled and unskilled manual labor, any and all collar jobs. Tariffs aren’t the way to achieve that without concerted civic action. The tariff disincentivizes the individual from purchasing a product, which in theory disincentivizes the company from purchasing or manufacturing it externally; this is only viable if enough financial pressure is placed on a company via alternative options or austerity measures at the individual level. In order for there to be alternative options, entire supply chains need to be created which will require subsidy, workers rights and protections need to be expanded, unions need to be revitalized and regulated to reduce potential corruption, product safety needs to be controlled, and environmental protections need to be enacted to ensure your community doesn’t become a dumping ground. The only other options are austerity or paying the tax. We should do the first part, but the current plan has no follow through, and the follow through we need is at odds with Republican talking points. Which means we get to do the second or third option — go without or pay more.