On March 2nd, 2018 President Donald Trump Tweeted https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/969525362580484098 out that: "When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!" What do you think he is saying and why is he saying this? Is this just a negotiating tactic? While in the short term, tariffs on imported aluminum and steel from China, Canada and Mexico may be good for American steel or American aluminum companies, American workers working at these specific firms or or another part of the value added supply chain as higher costs are passed on, many American consumers and the global economy will not benefit from increased tariffs and trade wars. Despite what President Trump said, history is quite clear about what major tariffs like Smoot Hawley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act and other similar attempts at taxing imported goods can do to both trading partners and to the global economy as a whole. Famous writer Frederic Bastiat wrote about this over 100 years ago long before Smoot Hawley made the Great Depression of 1929 worse and potentially lead to WWII. The slogan, "if goods don t cross borders, armies will," is often attributed to Bastiat because he so forcefully made the case that free trade was perhaps the surest route to peace as well as prosperity. He understood that throughout history, tariffs had been a major cause of war. Protectionism, after all, is an attempt by governments to inflict on their own citizens in peacetime the same kinds of harm their enemies attempt (with naval blockades) during wars. Bastiat has other great quotes about protectionism and tariffs https://mises.org/library/biography-frederic-bastiat-1801-1850-between-french-and-marginalist-revolutions Additional Articles & Research on the History of Trade Wars in the US: 1) Trade Barriers as a Cause of War https://mises.org/library/trade-barriers-cause-war 2) American Tariffs and Wars From the Revolution to the Depression https://mises.org/library/american-tariffs-and-wars-revolution-depression 3) Against Trump's Tariffs https://mises.org/wire/against-trumps-tariffs-0 4) Foundation for Economic Education Website Search for Articles on Trade Wars https://fee.org/search/?q=trade+wars+ Trading (Shorting) Idea for Hedge Fund Traders and Very Sophisticated Investors only: Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. ADR (NYSE:ACH) https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/ach Please visit the Wall St for Main St website here: http://www.wallstformainst.com/ Follow Jason Burack on Twitter @JasonEBurack Follow Wall St for Main St on Twitter @WallStforMainSt Commit to tipping us monthly for our hard work creating high level, thought proving content about investing and the economy https://www.patreon.com/wallstformainst Also, please take 5 minutes to leave us a good iTunes review here! We have 33 5 star iTunes reviews and we need to get to our goal of 100 5 star iTunes reviews asap! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wall-street-for-main-street/id506204437 If you feel like donating fiat via Paypal, Bitcoin, Gold Money, or mailing us some physical gold or silver, Wall St for Main St accepts one time donations on our main website. Wall St for Main St is also available for personalized investor education and consulting! Please email us to learn more about it! If you want to reach us, please email us at: [email protected]