Tariffs Are Not Protection—They’re Hidden Taxes When a president—any president—tells a group of hardworking American producers that they “don’t understand” how they're benefitting from government policy, it’s a safe bet that it’s the president, not the producers, who’s confused. In the latest display of central planning masquerading as patriotism, former President Donald Trump insisted that U.S. cattle ranchers owe their recent success to tariffs he slapped on Brazilian beef—and now, paradoxically, he wants to import beef from Argentina to “bring down prices for the consumer.” This is the kind of economic doublespeak Milton Friedman spent a lifetime dissecting and dismantling. Let’s get one thing straight: Tariffs are taxes. Period. They are taxes on consumers, disguised as protection for producers. And…
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