«For decades, our country has been looted, looted, raped and looted For near and distant nations, both friends and enemies, «said President Trump last week when he proclaimed a national emergency and imposed The highest tariffs from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Law. The US stock markets lost more than $ 6 billion in value and the fierce controversies are in their volume on whether Trump is rescuing or ruining the economy. The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said Trump’s penalty tariffs are «the rearrangement of fair trade.» The Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent, declared: “For the first time in decades, probably since he was a university student – Let’s see fair trade. «Last week, the United States Commercial Representative (USTR) published its annual 377 pages report on Foreign trade barriersexhaustively recapitulating abuses for each nation cheating on the United States. Fortunately for the Trump administration, The media checks almost completely ignored the tremendously wired report.But one of the most high profile cases illustrates the absurdity of Trump’s latest fair trade definitions.Ustr declared that most of the «US exports to Vietnam face tariffs of 15 percent or less.» But at the Rosas Garden ceremony, Trump promoted a table that indicated that the «Vietnam rates charged to the US.» 90 percent. Trump established penalty tariffs in just half of the rate evaluated in the United States because he wanted to be «friendly»; Vietnam’s exports were kindly beaten with a 46 percent tariff. Trump declared that the rate of each nation was based on «the combined rate of all its Tariffs, non -monetary barriers and other forms of trap. «Last Friday, Trump announced that he had spoken with the secretary general of the Vietnam Communist Party and Vietnam «wants to cut your rates down To zero if they can reach an agreement with the United States. «But Peter Navarro, Trump’s main commercial advisor, went out to the offer: “When they come to us and say, we will go to zero rates, That means nothing to usbecause it is The non -task that cheats that Affairs. «And what are the vietnamese barriers not allegedly scandalous objective? The USTR report punished Vietnam for its refusal to import «second -hand consumer goods; parts used for vehicles; Internal combustion engines used with less than 30 horsepower … and restored medical devices. » Does the Trump administration really think the commercial deficit with Vietnam by sending our used grass cutters?Rattletrap transmissions for old fords and leftover syringes?Ethanol supposedly exemplifies the unjust Vietnamese commercial barriers. Ustr complained that Vietnam «only allows 5 percent ethanol mixtures in one of its three degrees of gasoline.» The United States government is pressing Vietnam for «the eventual migration to a 10 percent ethanol mixture.» Ethanol is a bad fuel source compared to gasoline and Contamin the air. Ethanol is known by harmful car engines In this nation.But the United States has a lot of ethanol to export because its production has been very subsidized since the 1970s. Last week, the Trump administration announced $ 537 million in New subsidies for biofuel production. But Vietnam’s navigation to buy more ethanol subsidized by the United States government is a victory for fair trade because God wants Iowa corn farmers to be rich. Condemn foreigners for not buying exports subsidized by the United States government personifies the hypocrisy of Trump’s styleThe Trump administration is also outraged that Vietnam forbids «white spoils», including «Mollets of poultry and beef and stomach and intestines. «The United States government insists that Vietnam lacks a» justification based on science so as not to approve new facilities of the US. UU. Offals can be contaminated By Salmonella, mycotoxins, parasites and heavy metals.The enthusiasm of the United States government spoils does not extend to Haggis, the traditional Scottish dish that has been prohibited from importation Since 1971. Haggis is based on sheep lungs, which the United States Department of Agriculture considers food transmitted diseases.But even if Vietnam bought all used grass cutters and all leftovers of butcher shop in the United Statesprobably there would still be a great commercial deficit between the two nations. Trump’s penalty tariffs were largely derived from a simplistic formula that took «the commercial deficit that the United States directs with that nation and dividing it by the exports that the country sent» to the United States, such as the New York Times explained. A Trump administration official declared that penalty tariffs were «based on the concept that the commercial deficit we have with any given country is the sum of all unfair commercial practices, the sum of all traps.» Unfortunately, the administration has not provided evidence to the buttress that statement. Trump declared on Sunday that while commercial deficits persist, penalty tariffs will also do. Base the penalty tariffs on commercial flow data is like a federal judge sentenced a criminal based on the weight of the accused, not on the real crime he committed. But it doesn’t matter if Trump proclamations have zero intellectual or moral credibility. His emergency statement was sufficient to greatly increase his arbitrary power over the US economy.Trump’s decrees vivify how «fair trade» means a moral canonization of pure political arbitrariness. The final basis is that fair trade is what politicians say it is– At least until they review the definition of justice. Will Trump explain why making foreign trade totally depends on presidential decrees is a triumph of equity?Sunday night, Trump proclaimed: «Someday, people will realize that tariffs, for the United States of America, are very beautiful!» How much will the Americans pay for Trump’s tariff salvation scheme? Never forget the warning of Senator James Beck of 1884: «The rate is the protection that the wolf gave the lamb.»Fountain: Mises Institute
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