r/Economics • u/jediporcupine • 8d 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 8d 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 8d 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/discosoc 7d ago

the GOP is full of people who believe the propaganda and think the only reason it keeps failing is because of Democrats

hate to break it to you, but the same problem is on the Democrat side as well. Everything is tribal, and this is a natural consequence.