The challenge for conservatives is to support sound economic principles without succumbing to partisan justifications for the Trump tariffs.
President Trump’s sweeping tariffs, announced on April 2, 2025—Liberation Day—have ignited market turmoil. Stock markets are plummeting, investors are scrambling for clarity, and many well-regarded conservatives are struggling to rationalize a confounding policy supporting tariffs.
Three common fallacies are emerging in defense of tariffs:Exports Good, Imports Bad
Many conservative commentators argue that the United States has long been the victim of an unfair double standard in global trade. They claim America has received the short end of the stick, importing far more than it exports and accumulating unsustainable trade deficits. The belief that trade deficits are paramount to tariffs is so entrenched within the Trump administration that it influenced the pseudo-tariff calculations displayed on his signature big-beautiful board. The figures were based on trade deficits divided by U.S. imports—not actual tariffs, creating an arbitrary justification for tariff rates.
Trade deficits do not signify economic victimhood. Historically, trade surpluses and deficits have coincided with economic expansion and contraction periods. A trade deficit simply means a country buys more than it sells, indicating strong consumer demand. Conversely, trade surpluses have accompanied economic slowdowns and indicate nothing about the financial stability of a nation. The notion that the U.S. must “even the score” through protectionism ignores the broader benefits of global trade and the dangers of implementing tariffs.Retaliatory Tariffs are Justified
“Two wrongs don’t make a right.” The logic behind retaliatory tariffs is flawed: if other nations levy tariffs on American goods, the U.S. must reciprocate. This approach assumes that economic punishment will lead to fairness, but tariffs always burden consumers. Whether imposed as an initial measure or in retaliation, tariffs increase costs for businesses and households.
Free trade, by contrast, expands consumer choice, encourages foreign participation in American markets, and reduces the risk of trade wars. Trade wars are economic headbutts—nobody wins. There are more effective ways to hold other nations accountable for unfair practices, such as incentivizing other countries to trade with the U.
