Happy Liberation Day! I can't wait to tell my grandchildren that the holiday they're celebrating with fireworks and cookouts in the park all started when the President of the United States unilaterally raised taxes on every American without any vote from the Congress exclusively delegated with the taxing power - and made them free.

I was there. I was one of them. 

Now, I know the president claims and many of his supporters believe that it is not Americans who pay the tax but rather the foreign exporters who sell us their products. You know, just like the cashier at the convenient store charges you a sales tax.

The problem is, the exporters aren't buying anything from us. They're selling their products to American importers and the American importers are sending the tariffs owed to the U.S. government. All the foreigners do is get paid for the products they provide. They don't send any money to Uncle Sam.

There is no way to break this down in a way people emotionally attached to the idea of Trump's reciprocal tariffs will reconcile themselves with reality. But reality has a way of winning these battles - every time.

Certainly, the tariffs our so-called "trading partners" charge their importers for bringing in our goods - or in some cases to keep them from buying our goods in the first place - hurts us somewhat. We are not able to sell to markets that would otherwise buy our products.

But it hurts them more. That's just one reason all the countries Trump is targeting are poorer than the United States - bad economic policies, including but in no way limited to protectionist tariffs. They are policies we don't benefit by imitating.

Even when a trading partner refuses to lower their tariffs, we are still better off charging zero tariffs on imports from their country. Why that is true - and it definitely is - may not be immediately obvious. But after today's episode of Tom Mullen Talks Freedom, I think you'll see it my way if don't already.

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Watch the video version of Episode 204 here...

Audio and Show Notes for Episode 204 here...

Tom Mullen is the author of It’s the Fed, Stupid and Where Do Conservatives and Liberals Come From? And What Ever Happened to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? 

 Tom