@eARCwelder it really makes little sense to tariff China either. tariffs are very shitty tools. the only kind that make any sense are narrowly targeted to sectors rather than sources. the US has not matched increasing trade deficits with increasing military expenditure, and certainly has not efficiently implemented conversion of fiscal inputs to military outputs. the US “provides demand” by running large fiscal deficits, but not linked to military menace.

@eARCwelder (taking control of balance of payments is far from a shitty goal, though! it’s just that there are much better tools, on the capital side, to do that.)