Now with manufactured products, the customer may have local options that are now cheaper than an import+tariffs (but still more expensive than they were paying previously), which means the foreign manufacturer has to invest in a local facility or loose customers. The customer may just be stuck with it though.

And, as trump (and apparently you) don’t realize: it takes a lot of time to stand up manufacturing infrastructure. And that inherently depends on tariff’d raw materials and machines.

In a world where “nations” are towns on either side of the river? Tariffs “make sense”. You are growing your own corn so you want to actively discourage anyone from buying corn from across the river. That said, it also forces everyone to grow corn and rice and tomatoes and peppers. Rather than specializing to lower the cost for everyone.

In a modern post industrial global economy? Everyone is already specialized to hell and back. And many resources only exist in other countries to begin with. So while selective tariffs CAN lead to long term change, they inherently cause short to medium term hardship. Which is why the focus is more on tax incentives to build out that infrastructure.

Canada needs to use tariffs for three reasons.

First? Because trump is a fucking moron and this is the only language he understands.

Second? Because the US economy is so heavily dependent on exports and the only way to make us feel this is to shut down the import side in Canada. But this will cause great hardship for Canadians.

Third? To do the borderline medieval task of forcing industries to find new sources. Except they won’t be building up internal infrastructure. They will be importing from China and Europe.

But tariffs themselves? They inherently harm the nation imposing them more than anyone else in this global economy.