Where the heck is United States President Donald Trump getting his economic advice from?
The Trump administration announced that it is slapping tariffs up to 24 percent on imported softwood lumber. Shortly after the gathering of conservative journalists at the White House, the president said that the Commerce Department would impose tariffs between three and 24.1 percent on Canadian lumber producers. This includes West Fraser Timber Co.
“We’re going to be putting a 20% tax on softwood lumber coming in — tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada,” Trump said on Monday.
This comes as the administration chastized Canada’s new milk policy that ostensibly violates NAFTA.
“It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement.”
Canada has shot back against the U.S. government over its proposed tariff, calling it “unfair and punitive duty” and “baseless and unfounded.” It remains unclear if Foreign Minister Chrystian Freeland will start crying again.
It is apparent that a trade war is being initiated by the U.S. against a wide array of nations, including Canada, Japan and other states across the globe.
Trump needs to receive some better advice than what he is getting. Rather than stacking up his administration with neoconservatives and globalists, he needs to add some real free market proponents to his staff.
Here is what legendary free market economist Milton Friedman said about free trade and the steel industry in 1978:
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