LET’S REDUCE OUR TRADE DEFICIT AND JUST EXPORT HIM

Trade is not based on utility but on justice. ~ Edmund Burke 

The misses and mistakes the president has been making with respect to our international trade policies, especially with China, have one unlikely remedy. Export him and thus reduce our trade deficit, both fiscally and spiritually.

In numerous pronouncements, Donald Trump has provided unequivocal proof that my high-school economics students understand far better how tariffs work and what the likely nasty consequences will be for US consumers and businesses as these import duties raise prices. David Ricardo is again rolling over in his grave. If for some strange reason you’re not already convinced about this lack of his common sense and knowledge, remember his fallacious tweets that “Trade wars are good, and easy to win.” (March 2018), and “Tariffs will make our Country much stronger, not weaker” (May 2019). Unlike the president, my students correctly realize that tariffs are simply taxes levied on imported goods that are ultimately paid by consumers of the goods. Although the many critics of the president’s tariffs have probably overstated their deleterious short-term macroeconomic effects (US exports of goods and services to all nations represent but 12.1% of our GDP; China’s are 19.8%; Germany’s are 47.0%), Trump’s tariffs and China’s reciprocal tariffs have already and will continue to harm specific, important sectors of our economy. Trump vastly broadened his import tariffs on May 10, which will soon raise prices for every US consumer of goods from China, including iPhones, Christmas tree lights and thousands of others. Consumers’ pocketbooks are being picked by the president’s “trade war.”

If the president was interested in gaining any historical knowledge, he’d have long ago understood that substantive tariffs, similar to those he’s actually and threatening to levy, directly extended our Great Depression (the Smoot-Hawley tariffs). It’s no matter to him. Although they can sometimes be a useful negotiating tactic, when implemented tariffs haven’t and won’t make our nation greater or stronger. Just ask a farmer.

His dutiful (pun intended) farmers throughout the mid-West and Great Plains are, once again, caught between their soil and a hard place with Trump’s and China’s tariffs affecting their livelihoods. Since last Spring they’ve seen their largest foreign buyers of agricultural commodities disappear behind tariff walls. But as rock-solid Republicans (so far), they will be loath to vote for any of the now two-dozen Democratic candidates, except perhaps Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who announced his candidacy on May 14. The best the Dems can hope for is farmers’ political abstinence on November 3, 2020. It might be enough, but keeping many fingers crossed is wise.

My pick for where to export him is the British Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island in the entire world. Tristan is over 6,600 miles from Washington, DC, 2,000 miles away from South America and 1,700 miles away from the nearest coast of South Africa smack dab in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean.

It should be perfect for the Donald. According to Wikipedia, the island has 251 permanent residents. The only way of travelling to and from Tristan is via an occasional seven-day boat trip from South Africa. Tristan boasts of having a population of rockhopper penguins. It’s starkly volcanic origins may take a while for Mr. Trump to get used to; he’ll have the time. A total solar eclipse will pass directly over the island on Dec. 5, 2048. Wow.

I expect that despite initial resistance, Britain will gladly agree to host Mr. Trump exclusively on Tristan for his remaining earthly days. Why? Because in return for hosting him, the US will unilaterally commit to negotiating with Britain on an expedited basis a comprehensive US-UK trade agreement. What with Brexit, they’ll need this trade agreement big time. The icing on this agreement’s cake will be our financing the construction and maintenance of a small 5-hole pitch-and-put golf course on Tristan to be enjoyed by all its residents, include the most recent one.

Ah, I love this opportunity to take advantage of a rare upside of Britain’s Brexit challenges, because the downsides will stretch for a good long time beyond even Oct. 31, 2019, the current magical (and extended) deadline for Brexit. It could take a year and a half or so to negotiate such a comprehensive trade agreement which coincides nicely with our next presidential election. The House Dems should soon start initial discussions with whomever may be in charge in the British Parliament, be it Theresa, Boris, Jeremy, Nigel or someone else. Onward towards freer trade and deficit reduction…