Hillbilly wisdom: Stability comes from consistency. If the rules change daily, then those making the changes are in a better position to profit from the predetermined chaos. We know this as a variation of insider trading.

Tariffs have changed the world. There are various reasons given and ample promises made about the end results of tariffs. We cannot possibly consider all the complexities involved but 1) Has tariffs kept the commerce going? Or 2)Are tariffs restrictive to trade? This is two ways of asking the same question.

How is it possible to arbitrarily rise and lower the tariffs imposed on other countries and expect that there will be more trade between nations? Maybe no tariffs, less tariffs or consistent/flat tariffs would promote more trade, it couldn’t hurt.