Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
The Truth About Tariffs
Hi friends,
I recently watched Tucker Carlson’s interview with Former Trade Representative Lighthizer, and it was very enlightening.
Mr. Lighthizer currently serves as the Chair of the Center for American Trade at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI); he continues to influence trade policy discussions and advocate for policies that prioritize American workers and industries. He also wrote the book No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America's Workers (published 2023). The book provides insights into his experiences as U.S. Trade Representative and outlines his perspectives on reshaping U.S. trade policies to better serve national interests
I’ve tried to hit the high points of the interview in the below.
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: The Truth About Tariffs
Most Americans don’t realize how badly our trade system has failed us. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer explained it in plain English: our current trade policies have hollowed out the American economy, transferred trillions in wealth overseas, and left our working class behind. And it didn’t happen by accident.
Lighthizer laid out the facts. The U.S. runs nearly a trillion dollars in trade deficits each year. That means we're sending more money out than we bring in, year after year. Over time, that’s added up to a staggering $23.5 trillion loss in what we used to own compared to what foreigners now own in America.
It’s not just numbers on a page. It’s jobs, factories, technology, and whole communities lost.
Free trade sounded nice on paper, but in practice, it gave the upper hand to countries like China, which use industrial policies, cheap labor, unfair regulations, and currency manipulation to outcompete us. Meanwhile, U.S. leaders - Republicans and Democrats alike - sat on their hands. Many in Washington still pretend that “free trade” is a moral good. But it’s become a moral failure.
Free trade sounded nice on paper, but in practice, it gave the upper hand to countries like China.
The consequences are real. Since the 2000s, America has seen slower economic growth, declining life expectancy, and the collapse of the working class. Families can’t get ahead. Entire towns are in ruins. Two-thirds of Americans have only a high school education, and many of them have lost stable, dignified manufacturing jobs. Wages have been flat for decades. Despair has risen. And for the first time in modern history, American kids don’t expect to do better than their parents.
Lighthizer says it doesn’t have to be this way. Tariffs are not just about raising prices. They’re about rebalancing the playing field. Other countries stack the deck with hidden tools like subsidies, low-interest government loans, tax tricks, and labor suppression. Tariffs are one of the few visible tools we can use to push back and bring jobs home. He even cited Warren Buffett’s old idea: requiring export certificates to import goods - a policy that could restore balance.
Tariffs also serve a bigger strategic purpose. They protect the industries that matter most - from steel to semiconductors to pharmaceuticals. These aren’t luxuries. They are the backbone of a secure and sovereign country. Without manufacturing, we rely on our rivals for essentials. That’s not just risky. It’s reckless.
Critics often warn that tariffs will drive up prices, but Lighthizer reminds us: we’re already paying a hidden cost. It shows up in lost innovation, broken families, and despair. The small price increase on a product is nothing compared to the long-term cost of losing your nation’s productive capacity. And historically, tariffs did not cause the inflation critics predicted.
The goal isn’t punishment. It’s revival. When we make things again, we rebuild families, restore dignity, and make our country stronger. Manufacturing fuels innovation, national security, and better-paying jobs. We had it once, and we can have it again - but only if we stop pretending that this broken system works.
When we make things again, we rebuild families, restore dignity, and make our country stronger.
It’s time to be honest about what’s happened, and it’s time to do something about it. That’s the truth, straight from the horse’s mouth.
As always, do your own research; make up your own mind.
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(AI may have been used in this article.)
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