by Thaddeus G. McCotter
Free trade hollowed out American industry while enriching global elites; Trump’s tariffs aim to make economic nationalism work for US workers again.
Two recent news items have spurred the return of the tariff issue to the front burner of American politics.
First (at the time of writing), President Trump will attend a summit with People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping in May.
Second, U.S. Steel has announced plans to resume operations at its Gary, Indiana, tin mill.
And, again, one will hear the Free Traders shrilly bemoaning how “tariffs are a tax on consumers.”
If one were to honestly accept the Free Traders’ logic that a company passing off its costs of compliance with a federal statute and/or regulation on to consumers constitutes a “tax,” one would then be required to declare almost every governmental decision touching upon the health, safety, and welfare of the nation a tax as well. So, too, corporations and companies are not required to pass on the costs of the tariffs to anyone. It is a choice they make based upon market conditions.
Yet, consider the inanity of arguing that statutes opposing child labor laws are a tax because they will raise the cost of labor that the mining company then must pass on to consumers. (I am, admittedly, not a libertarian.)
One may also ponder the fact that nations with high tariffs on American goods and services do not make similar protestations that tariffs are a tax on their consumers. Why? Because these nations’ industries and sectors employ workers and produce goods and services that constitute a net benefit to their citizens’ standard of living—a standard of living these governments are determined to preserve, if for no other reason than their own political self-preservation.
This has not been the case here at home prior to the election of President Trump. Understanding there is a free trade tax on Americans, President Trump has refused to perpetuate the post-World War II economic policy that enabled our war-ravaged former allies and enemies to rebuild their nascent industrial bases courtesy of high tariffs against imported US goods, with the corresponding result that they had lower entry barriers for them to access the American market.
While this policy accomplished its goal long ago, the unfortunate and entirely predictable result was that the nations that benefited from high tariffs on US goods—as well as those US corporate interests that also benefited from them—would never seek to see them repealed, allowing free and fair competition with and in the American market.
Worse, rather than fight for a level playing field for American workers, many domestic corporate and financial interests leveraged the “free trade” mantra to outsource American jobs to “low-cost” countries, many of which benefited from autocratic regimes and/or lower tariffs on their goods entering the US market. In sum, it was win-win for corporate America and foreign economic interests and a lose-lose for American workers.
It was also lose-lose for American security. As the Iran conflict demonstrates, our nation’s decimated manufacturing base’s ability to produce the necessary armaments is inadequate to meet the security challenges our nation faces; and, unconscionably, it is beholden to foreign sources—some of which are unfriendly to the US—for materials and supplies required to make many armaments.
Stipulating for the sake of argument that tariffs are a tax, let us cite but a few examples of what also can be construed as a free trade tax upon Americans caused by outsourcing and unfair foreign tariffs:
- The financial strains of an ever-expanding social safety net for retraining programs for displaced workers.
- The increased cost of health care for these displaced workers, who have lost their coverage and whose health is deteriorating under the strain of unemployment, including increased substance abuse and domestic violence.
- The cost of (almost ineluctably failed) federal, state, and local programs to “reimagine” industrial ghost towns caused by outsourcing.
- The outsourcing of America’s Arsenal of Democracy to Communist China and other less-than-friendly nations.
- The increasing, ominous sentiment among American citizens that their representative institutions work not for the people but for financial and corporate elites.
This is far from an exhaustive list, though it helps prove the point: free trade isn’t free. In fact, it does not exist any more than true protectionism does. The reality is that there is only negotiated trade. It is why “free trade” agreements are huge documents hammered out with the large gaggles of diplomats and trade “experts”; and they are not written on a cocktail napkin to the effect of “No tariffs. Let’s trade!”
Understanding this, President Trump is determined to recalibrate our nation’s tariffs and those of other nations to level the playing field for America’s workers. His efforts have faced immense, intense opposition across the political spectrum. Admittedly, his approach has been more akin to using a sledgehammer than a scalpel; however, what matters to American workers is the protection and creation of jobs, not the abstraction of economic theory.
And it is not simply American workers who value leveling the playing field. This is also resonating among those American corporate executives whose industries have been harmed. To wit, U.S. Steel President and Chief Executive Officer David B. Burritt:
Customers are increasingly focused on securing dependable domestic supply they can count on over the long term. Restarting the Gary Tin Mill positions us to serve that demand, support domestic manufacturing, and strengthen critical US supply chains, including those that help support US farmers and food producers, provided trade is fair and enforced.
It is no coincidence that U.S. Steel is supportive of the president’s tariff recalibration to level the international economic playing field. As Manufacturing Digital notes:
On 9th April 2025, US Steel filed antidumping duty petitions against imports of tin and chromium coated sheet steel from Taiwan, China and Turkey. Additionally, it filed a countervailing duty petition against subsidized imports of tin mill products from China. US Steel alleges these countries are selling their products at artificially low prices in order to become main sourcing partners of steel, which it says risks putting US companies out of business.
They are correct. But due to the company’s own commitment to American workers and the president’s perseverance in the face of his tariff critics, there will be a “restart” investment of $15–20 million and an “anticipated 225 jobs at Gary Works.”
Well, Free Traders? Can supporters of a level tariff playing field call this a tax cut?
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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a cohost of The John Batchelor Show, among sundry media appearances.
Thaddeus G. McCotter
Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/16/the-free-trade-tax-on-americans/
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