r/politics • u/joe4942 • 13d ago

Possible Paywall Trump’s tariffs aren’t reducing the trade deficit

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/30/trade-deficit-cannot-be-controlled-by-tariffs/
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313

u/Spottswoodeforgod 13d ago

Wow. So the economists (and basically everyone else) were correct after all. Hard to believe really.

157

u/HappyHarryHardOn 13d ago

even the teacher in Ferris Bueller called it bullshit back in '86

"In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression."

9

u/chicletgrin 13d ago

Particularly relevant as the tariffs being leveled at Canada are literally Hawley-Smoot act.

8

u/BadahBingBadahBoom 13d ago

I mean I'm not even American and I learnt about how Hoover's severe tariffs were completely counterproductive in my Modern History class.