The point is to replace income taxes with tariffs. Domestic production is "desired" but this is not how to rebuild domestic production capability.
> Domestic production is "desired" but this is not how to rebuild domestic production capability
No need to be handwavy. It can be part of a strategy. A painful and ultimately less effective way than another, sure. There will be a lot of factors at play beyond these controls. This administration lacks the ability to focus for very long in any competent sense. I'm not sure there is a strategy that will work, at this time.
I'd really like to see a coherent strategy from somebody on rebuilding American manufacturing.
Bad ideas:
* Tax cuts for the rich will make it happen.[1]
* More tax cuts.[2]
* High tariffs with no plan.[3]
Semi-reasonable ideas:
* Clairmont study.[4]
* McKinsey study (2017).[5] Hasn't held up well.
Manufacturing is low-margin and requires stable markets. How to promote that? There are a lot of dull and boring businesses someone has to do.
Maybe tax policy should be set up to favor dividends over growth. That favors steadily profitable companies over growth companies.
[1] https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2025/01/24/the-golden-age-of-...
[2] https://nam.org/timmons-nam-members-meet-with-bessent-congre...
[3] https://x.com/cspan/status/1909639514861322433
[4] https://dc.claremont.org/restoring-american-manufacturing-a-...
[5] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/americas/making-i...
Per product class protectionism installed for new products, then work up the supply chains. Protect electronics, cause electronics go into all thingd, thenprotect homegrown machine suppliers. aka copy chinese growth strategies
So we’d replace income tax with a regressive tax on consumption
I’ve ran the numbers in a bunch of ways and I don’t think they’re much if any more regressive than current income tax, given the rich avoid income past a point and spend a lot more on goods in the middle band, even percentage based. If you want a better progressive tax you’d need to focus on capital or spending on luxury goods and services.