"What works is a free market. Raise import costs on CPUs and you’ll incentivize building in the US and more companies to form."
Is the market really free with tariffs?
Is the market really free with tariffs?
The US federal government was initially only able to make revenue from tariffs. Basically you control the borders, but inside the borders there are no control (ie free market). Once you deal between nations, you cannot have a perfectly free market, else your enemies will eat you. Which imo is what happened the last 50 years.
US policy can't force South Korea or Taiwan to have a free market. No matter what we do, any domestic company has to be able to compete with Samsung and TSC. Because of that, there is no purely "free" global market.
Either you change the rules at the border (tariffs), you match your competitors' strategy (subsidize), or you lose.
It’s more of a political slogan than an actual policy.