Are these tariffs a negotiating tactic?

Late last year, I spoke with the CEO of an automaker who would be directly affected by the tariffs that Trump was expected to put into place. I asked this person straight up, “What are your people telling you?” That executive told me that they’re being told that it’s likely a negotiating tactic and that some compromise would be reached. To their credit, they didn’t sound particularly optimistic when telling me that. Maybe it was the “oh, really” face I was likely giving this person.

The larger point being that I believe many people believe that this is some tactic straight out of The Art of the Deal. Especially if you yield the bigger stick — and the American economy is probably the biggest stick of all — you can beat your opponent into submission. You bring them to their knees, and then you can dictate better terms.

Trump, at least this time, isn’t interested in a deal. It’s about time we start taking the President of the United States at his word and not what we think he means. Speaking to a gaggle of reporters in the Oval Office, as reported by the Financial Times, President Trump said, “It’s not a negotiating tool. It’s purely economic. We have big deficits, as you know, with all three of them.”

Disrupting the global automotive industry, which these tariffs will ultimately do, isn’t some tactic to get a better price on steel or ensure that a particular widget is made in the United States. There are some things that are currently being excessively taxed by this plan that simply cannot be manufactured in the United States.

The end goal, as far as I can tell, is to bring the economy to its knees. For what purpose does that serve? I’m not sure. Trump has said he’d like to cripple Canada to the point where it has no choice but to join the United States. That seems like an incredibly not-friendly thing to do to one of our closest allies and friend.

Does Donald Trump have friends, though?