>>82167356>there's no reason why domestic producers won't just raise their prices to be just somewhat cheaper than international substitutesI am assuming you have no formal background in economics, because you completely misunderstand the purpose of tariffs. Let's start with the current situation:
The US is currently at an economic standstill because nearly all of its production has been offloaded to foreign companies and they control the prices.
Domestic companies have no way to compete because they lack the streamlined production pipeline foreign companies have.
The only way to allow domestic companies to exist again, is to remove foreign companies' access to the market (by use of tariffs).
Now that people are forced to buy domestically, new domestic companies can establish themselves.
And once they've established themselves, the free market (and government oversight) will ensure that the prices will gradually lower until they're even cheaper than the original price.
This is Trump's plan behind the tariffs.
And while he should've targeted specific areas instead of employing blanket tariffs, that won't change the fact that numerous companies have already agreed to start producing domestically.
It's going to take at least a decade for people to notice any results and at most another decade for prices to reach original levels.
Does it suck? Yes. Does it also mean that wealth is now staying within the US instead of going to foreign countries, strengthening the economy even further? Also yes.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask them.