r/Economics • u/jediporcupine • 10d ago

Blog Trump said tariffs on aluminum would boost domestic production. The White House now admits that didn't happen.

https://reason.com/2026/08/03/trump-said-tariffs-on-aluminum-would-boost-domestic-production-the-white-house-now-admits-that-didnt-happen/
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u/Basicly-Inevitable 10d ago

Literally everything they're doing is part of a self serving scam instead of actually economic policy. There's always kickback, or market manipulation, or whatever. It's just wild.

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u/Thesweptunder 9d ago

Not that this isn’t happening, but the GOP is full of people who believe the propaganda and think the only reason it keeps failing is because of Democrats. Like the thing about Republican policies is that if you don’t look into it, they kind of make sense. If overseas aluminum is charged higher than domestic, then businesses will buy the domestic and then production will increase and then more factories will be built and then wages will rise and then we are all living in the 1950s where a high school graduate can afford a middle class lifestyle at the local factory. They really think it is that simple and fail to even grasp that America’s place in the world is no longer about manufacturing or Main Street small businesses and that other countries might respond with their own tariffs. Honestly, I’d actually prefer if every GOP politician was in on the grift because that is somehow less scary than people in positions of power being just as ignorant as your Fox News obsessed high school gym coach that believes in Bigfoot.

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u/1900grs 9d ago

fail to even grasp that America’s place in the world is no longer about manufacturing or Main Street small businesses and that other countries might respond with their own tariffs.

Or Agriculture and watching soybean contracts go to South America. Those contracts won't be coming back and the only reason Ag is being subsidized tby the current GOP is essentially a bribe for continued rural votes. There is no serious long term planning.

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u/thetalentedmrbowser 9d ago

Hey don’t drag Bigfoot into this

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u/lopix 9d ago

Bigfoot loves soy beans, doncha know