The Truth About Tariffs and Economic Revival

By Ron Boehme | April 9, 2025 |

I have an earned doctorate, but it’s not in high finance economics. That realm has always been somewhat of a mystery to me just like quantum physics.

The USA and the world is about to get an economic lesson from President Trump and some smart business people in the current administration. Their bold moves may save us from the economic disaster I’ve been predicting for forty-five years. A centerpiece of their strategy:

Tariffs.

Here are my thoughts on tariffs and economic revival.

The Truth About Tariffs and Economic Revival

I have been preaching for decades that the staggering US national debt could lead to the greatest economic collapse/depression in history.

Our debt crossed the $1 trillion mark, on October 22, 1981–during Ronald Reagan’s first term. In 1978, William Simon, who became Reagan’s Treasury Secretary, warned in A Time For Truth that economic Armageddon was coming. He was wrong about timing, but right about the dangers of debt. For the next forty years the strength and resilience of the American economy along with some high level monetary manipulation kept the disaster at bay.

Central to that boom was Reagan’s supply-side economic policies which lowered taxes, increasing payments to the federal treasury. It was a good course correction. But then followed 35 years of growing bureaucracy and many bad economic policies which ballooned the debt to a staggering 36 trillion dollars.

President Trump and his team have made the hard but wise choice to stave off a financial calamity with three key actions: 1) Decrease the size of government and its expenses (DOGE), 2) Lower taxes to increase consumption and revenue (budget bill), and 3) Create truly free/fair trade for the United States and the world (tariffs).

Key to this economic renaissance is tariffs–a tax that nations charge on imports.

Ward Clark of Redstate shares Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s big picture perspective on tariffs:

This has been years in the building. Years in the making. This unsustainable system, our trading partners have taken advantage of us, we can see that through the large surpluses, we see that through the large budget deficit, and also, this is a national security problem which we saw during COVID. The optimal supply chains are not resilient. And what I could say, is that the only good outcome from COVID is that it was a beta test for what would happen if our supply chains got broken. And President Trump has decided, that we cannot be at risk like that for our crucial medicines, for semiconductors, for shipping, and we are going to move forward so the American people can know that they are going to have a more secure future.

Here’s the historical perspective. America became the world’s manufacturing and economic superpower after World War II. Then we generously used our wealth and know-how to rebuild Europe and Japan (instead of ruling over them). Later, we brought China into the world economy.

We accomplished this by allowing other nations to tax our products at higher levels (tariffs) than we taxed theirs. This sent manufacturing jobs overseas, hurt working Americans, and sent trillions of dollars to other nations via tariffs (which enriched them but made us poorer).

President Trump’s now famous tariff chart exposed the massive trade imbalance (918.4 billion in 2024–nearly one trillion dollars).

Twenty years after the global rebuilding, we should have changed course and worked for free trade/fair trade where goods crossed borders with relatively equal government tariffs or none at all. We didn’t–and greatly hurt the lower and middle classes in America while ringing up 36 trillion dollars in debt.

President Trump is the first president in forty years who has the guts to set our financial house in order. No wonder the American people voted for a businessman with a spine of steel (Caroline Leavitt). His policies are exactly what we need for an economic revival in America.

Yes, this bold tariff move (coupled with downsizing government and lowering taxes) has created uncertainty in the markets. People are worried about their 401 K’s. But here’s another dose of reality from Treasury Secretary Bessent:

The top ten percent of income earners in America own 88% of U.S. equities (stocks & bonds).
Forty percent own 12%.
And 50% of Americans own none. They are in debt, and being hammered by inflation and unfair trade.

President Trump is fighting for them and won the 2024 election with their votes. Fair, and relatively equal tariffs are a key component.

To date, some 70 nations have responded to Trump’s new tariff policy with a desire to change/renegotiate. The EU said recently they will require to no tariffs on industrial goods. The tide is turning though the markets are jittery.

Tucker Carlson explains:

It’s important to remember that this was expected. Donald Trump’s tariff plan is not your typical policy initiative. It’s a once-in-a-generation, global order-altering development that was always going to trigger short-term turbulence. The president said so himself on Monday in these words: “No other president would be willing to do what I’m doing, or to even go through it,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “Now I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end. But we’re making tremendous progress with a lot of countries, countries that used to take advantage of us… it’s the only chance we’re going to have to reset the table on trade.”

Reset the table.

You know what he’s talking about. It wasn’t long ago that the United States was a manufacturing superpower, fueled by an earnest population of laborers who made up the country’s thriving middle class. Then globalism happened. Instead of protecting those American workers, lawmakers turned their backs on them in favor of job-killing free trade that never bore the fruits the academic Right swore it would.

We can’t predict how this will end, but we know someone bothering to try to change the broken trade system was long overdue. The American people need relief. They deserve it, and they voted for it. They just wanted their leaders to attempt something different. Anything. Just please no more globalism.

We must be patient with the stock market while the new administration sets the nation on a path to economic renewal.

Bill O’Reilly opines:

As for the folks, you, here’s my advice. The market will come back. Don’t panic. That action is useless. You can vent but that’s it. History is unfolding. No one can stop it. In the words of Winston Churchill: carry on…Donald Trump may win this. He knows his personal destiny has suddenly become very shaky. He is not a man who accepts losing. There is high drama in the air. All WE can do is keep our composure.

According to Rasmussen, Americans are supportive of protecting our businesses using tariffs (45%-17%) despite the stock market dips. But markets will be shaky until a new free/fair trade table is set.

I spent much of my life working for spiritual revival in America. At the heart of that pursuit was a call to repentance–Americans needed to change their hearts and lives. Repentance = Change.

President Trump is calling us to economic repentance as a nation. Praise God that he sees its need and is willing to gamble with his popularity to achieve victory. He explains: