Trump’s tariff strategy was brilliant—and frankly, it was his only option. Let’s be clear here: he didn’t have a choice. The alternatives, like cutting entitlements or raising taxes, would have been political suicide. The American people, tired of being hit with higher taxes, would have never stood for it. So what does he do? He disguises it all under the banner of tariffs, a move that on the surface seems about protecting American industries and jobs. But the reality? Tariffs are a tax, plain and simple. They’re a tax that directly hits the consumer, inflating the cost of goods.
Let’s break this down. The tariffs Trump imposed on foreign goods aren’t just some backdoor way of “punishing” other countries. They’re a hidden tax that American consumers feel every day. The idea is simple: force foreign goods to become more expensive, which in turn should push American consumers to buy domestic products. But here’s the catch: tariffs raise the price of just about everything. This is an unavoidable reality. It’s a tax on the American people, whether they realize it or not. The revenue from these tariffs gets funneled directly to the Treasury, but it’s not like the money is just falling from the sky. It’s being paid by the very citizens Trump is trying to protect with these tariffs.
Here’s where it gets even trickier: this massive tax increase is essentially the only way the government can avoid defaulting on its obligations. With a mountain of debt and the government needing to service it, there’s really no other option. Cutting entitlements would mean throwing millions of vulnerable Americans into a real crisis. Raising taxes would be political death. So, tariffs become the “least bad” option. They’re just a way of generating revenue without triggering an immediate political backlash. The $1.5 trillion that goes to Treasury holders isn’t magic. It’s a very real cost, and it’s coming straight from the American taxpayer’s pocket.
Meanwhile, the Treasury is sitting on a mountain of debt, and the game plan is clear: crash the 10-year Treasury yields to make it easier to handle. The government needs to roll over its debt, but doing so requires keeping interest rates as low as possible. The problem is, these artificially low rates can’t last forever. So, the question becomes, what happens when they start to rise? This is why the administration has been working overtime to suppress interest rates—because the math doesn’t add up otherwise.
Scott Bessent, a key player in the Treasury, understands this. He knows the country is in trouble, and he’s been trying to manage the fallout as best as he can. The reality is, the U.S. is living on borrowed time, and without a robust manufacturing base, the whole system is at risk. The lessons from COVID are clear: reliance on foreign goods and global supply chains leaves the U.S. vulnerable. The country needs to rebuild its manufacturing capacity, or it risks being left behind in a world where self-sufficiency is becoming a competitive advantage.
These tariffs are just a stopgap measure—temporary relief until the country can get its manufacturing back on track. Without that, no amount of tariffs will fix the long-term problem. We need to start rebuilding now, before it’s too late.