Actually, they're neither.
Perhaps Trump was absent from high school history class for the discussion of the infamous Smoot-Hawley Act, signed by Herbert Hoover in 1930 in a disastrous bid to "protect" the U.S. economy.
Hundreds of tariffs were hiked by 20%. International trade in U.S. goods fell by 40%. The Great Depression grew even more severe.
U. S. STEEL: Imports threaten our nation’s security
More recently, President George W. Bush imposed steel tariffs as high as 30% in 2002, raising prices for steel consumers. Several nations filed challenges with the World Trade Organization, which ruled against the United States. The tariffs were gone by the end of 2003.
Broad-based tariffs and trade wars are no better idea today.
The 25% tax on imported steel that Trump is weighing, along with a 10% levy on aluminum, would safeguard the 170,000 mill workers in those industries. But the levies would threaten the 6.5 million employees in industries, from automakers to can producers, that use these metals.
Source: usatoday
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