The Trump Tariffs of 2025: Can American Unity Be Found in a Trade War?

I'm not an economist, but much is being said about the state of the U.S. (and world) economy right now in the midst of the trade war between the United States and basically the entire world.

So of course I'm going to give my 2 cents.

As with all things Trump, there is polarization on both sides. Either you love what he's doing or you hate what he's doing. It's hard to find a middle ground in mainstream media, or even on social media. Outrage bait, as usual, is what takes the day. "There's wages on this fear

oh, so clear

depends on what you'll pay to hear" - "Doomsday Clock," The Smashing Pumpkins

Meanwhile, reality happens to exist outside of media narratives (although they often try to create it.) It suffices to say that with the extremes of the polarized reactions towards just about anything Trump does that there is an element to it that is not, actually, rational, but emotional.

And the same can be said even for how things were with Joe Biden or Barack Obama, for that matter. Not everything they did was great or horrible, and regardless of how you feel about them over-all, objectively, there are things that every president does that are actually "okay" and can be supported.

At any rate, the situation stands as this: The rest of the world has been tariffing the United States at high and perceivably unfair rates and Donald Trump wants to even the playing field to either A.) make up for the losses by bringing in more money or B.) encourage a re-negotiation of the said tariffs to bring them down or make them disappear entirely, by using ours as leverage.

Some countries have capitulated early, but others are ready for a fight with increasing their already existing tariffs - namely, China and most likely the European Union. There is much worry in the air that this is going to cause prices to sky-rocket at home, as much of what is consumed and used in the American economy is produced in China.

Rallies have been held (at a very organized and pre-planned level, I should add) all across the nation by anti-Trumpers everywhere.

Stock markets are also taking a beating as the psychological confidence in investment diminishes and the fear mindset drives people to sell instead of buy or hold.

I, for one, am actually hoping for a (temporary) stock market crash because in talking with a financial advisors, the word is that our stock market is actually grossly over-valued and in need of a correction. Also, with crypto-currency often mirroring the reactions of the stock market, I'm hoping for the prices of certain promising cryptocurrencies to go way low so that more can be bought at much cheaper prices before they begin to sharply increase in value. Crashes can be temporary and create great opportunities for future wealth.

But meanwhile, Democrat protesters are saying things like, "This is what you voted for! I hope you like it! Nazi!" It should be understood that this is what Trump voters expected from him: to shake things up and rattle the world order to create a new one.

Which then begs the question: do people who oppose Trump think everything is great in the world and should just be left alone? Because while there has been a measure of stability in just doing the same old thing, it also wasn't that great. In fact, it's rather sucked. The mainstream media rarely brought it to your attention, so maybe it wasn't in your face, but you have felt it in your pocket.

It also begs the question, from those who opposed re-negotiating the tariffs: Do they think that nothing should be done about them and that the U.S. should just be tariffed forever? If not, what is the solution?

I haven't seen a lot of focus on answers to that one. Just a lot of yelling and "Trump bad."

Understand that any president will do things that are just objectively pro-American.

Maybe you don't think tariffs are.

But if not, explain why other than pointing to the immediate shock to the markets that we all knew and accepted would happen, and explain why the United States should always be submissive to the tariffs of other nations. Furthermore, explain how this will be bad for the United States in the long-term. Maybe the explanation will be that prices will rise for American consumers because companies will be forced to return to the United States and make "widgets" at a higher price (ya know, because they aren't using slave labor overseas now).

I get that. But I also see that decreasing inflation is another prong of the over-all economic strategy by increasing domestic production to decrease energy costs, continue deregulating businesses to reduce costs, trim wasteful Federal spending, and extend both corporate and individual tax cuts. Maybe things won't work out. Maybe inflation will stay where it is, or maybe it will continue to rise on the basis of other factors. Maybe the whole thing will be a bust. Yeah. Maybe.

But let's also consider that during Joe Biden's term with the Democrats at the helm, inflation rose 21.2% according to the Consumer Price Index. Democrats had four years to show us they cared about inflation and they let it run away. Is it any surprise a Republican is in charge now, trying something different?

Instead of just shouting that the sky is falling and that Trump is a Nazi, why not focus energies on either giving a coherent counter-argument and plan that addresses the entirety of the situation, or....God forbid...unite with the opposition?

It's almost unthinkable in the current political climate - but a win for America is a win for all, Democrats and Republicans. If inflation goes down, we all win.

If we become more independent as a nation in producing our own needed materials, we all win.

If we become enriched as a nation, we all win.

Outside the bubble of political hatred, winning is objectively good. And it feels good, too.

Maybe our shared success and destiny as Americans can bring us together? Time will tell, but it's time to put aside political rivalry and start having intelligent and objective discussions for the sake of our country.