#TrumpTariffs

Tariffs, explained: What Trump wants from all these trade deals

President Donald Trump and his administration are racing to get trade deals done ahead of a self-imposed deadline, at which point tariffs are set to rise for dozens of countries across the world.

News about the on-again, off-again tariffs has become such a daily fixture of the second Trump administration that, at times, it can be hard to remember why the president started down this path in the first place. Trump has given many different reasons for why he believes tariffs are a crucial part of his policy agenda, but they can be categorized into four main goals:

Restore America’s manufacturing prowess.

Grow US revenue.

Equalize the balance of trade.

Pressure foreign countries into setting policies that benefit the United States.

Trump has often treated tariffs like a panacea — a catch-all economic tool that can simultaneously restore blue-collar jobs, pay off the US deficit, bring foreign nations to heel on key disputes and reduce Americans’ tax burdens.

In his first months in office, Trump has used tariffs to make progress on each of those goals.

Some companies have announced that they’ll invest in US factories, citing the costly tariffs. Tens of billions of dollars of tariff revenue are coming in to the United States every month. America’s trade deficit was cut in half in April — a dramatic decrease. And Trump has brought several countries to the negotiating table after threatening high tariffs — all without dramatically increasing inflation.

However, early indicators of success may be more of a sign of an initial shock to the system, as companies, consumers and businesses make rapid adjustments to the new reality of higher US tariffs.

Economists and business leaders maintain that tariffs probably won’t lead to a major American factory boom. They argue revenue from tariffs will remain a drop in the bucket compared

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