Paul Al Rahe: There's a Case for Tariffs

This seems obviously right to me.

I'm no economist, and I don't really deserve an opinion here.

But I do find the gap between these two things surprising:

[a] the passion with which tariffs are opposed by the relevant people

[b] the apparent strength of their actual arguments.

I'm perfectly willing to accept that tariffs are generally bad. But I'm in no way convinced that they're bad in all cases. The two obvious cases being:

[i] another country has put tariffs (or their equivalent) on us

[ii] Rahe's case; the industry in question is crucial to defense.

One argument is:

It would be better for the industry in question to be efficient and resilient enough to compete on its own against adversaries.

Well, sure.

But if the adversary is subsidizing their widget industry...

Well, I should have probably stopped with I'm no economist...