Trump’s Tariffs Are a Negotiation

RUSH: Grab sound bite No. 5, Larry Kudlow. This is this morning on CNBC. He’s with Jim Cramer. It turns out… We just had a caller asking about tariffs and what it all means for Trump, and I answered that it’s not tariffs; it’s not policy. This is not the beginning of a trade war. This is Trump negotiation to level the playing field. Kudlow pretty much says the same thing. Here’s how he describes it…

KUDLOW: President Trump has it right. We developed an experimental policy here, low tax rates, lower regulation, no punishing business, let’s reward success, take a rip at the ball. That’s American capitalism. Our European friends and others should consider these supply-side kinds of policies to reawaken business. We would welcome the Europeans to follow our lead. And, by the way, the president would welcome the Europeans to engage us in a serious manner with respect to a lot of unfair trading practices. I know they’re our friends. I know they’re our allies. This is something of a family disagreement. It’s a trade discussion. It’s not a trade war. It’s a trade discussion. We can fix this.

RUSH: Bingo! So the tariffs say, “Hey, wake up, gang. We’re not gonna have this continuing unfair arrangement and I’m gonna put these tariffs on to send the signal.” But it’s not the final move in the policy, and Trump’s not wedded to tariffs as an end to themselves. It’s the part of the process, it’s a negotiation ploy, if you will. But I love the way Kudlow characterizes this.

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