Originally published by The Hill
President Trump promised when he was campaigning for reelection in 2024 to impose tariffs. He expressed his feeling that the word “tariff” was one of the most beautiful words in the English language. He insisted that tariffs would punish United States trading partners that have been taking advantage of us and deter future unfair trade. The United States would receive increased revenue from the tariffs and better terms of trade.
What do we see now that President Trump is in charge? Prices for oil and gas futures are coming down, meaning America is once again on its way to energy dominance. The price of commodities like eggs, which were almost $10 a dozen during the last part of the Joe Biden era, have dropped and will head back to more rational pricing very soon. And the net creation of full-time employees is increasing. Consumer confidence is returning. All indicators of economic progress.
While the economy is moving in the right direction, Wall Street insiders have gone apoplectic, not on actual economic results, but in sheer panic. Some of it is fear that tariffs will constrict economic growth, but there is a strong likelihood that some of the wokesters on Wall Street share the Trump Derangement Syndrome of the left.
Their sell-off fails to consider the direction of the economy but instead focuses on the maybes. They aren’t thinking about the long-term but are fixated on the what ifs.
The good news is that there are hidden gems in the report on job creation. The Department of Labor reported exceptional growth of more than 228,000 new full-time jobs, which was almost double the expected growth. Census data, however, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show that the number of full-time workers increased by 459,000 from February 2025 to March 2025. That’s the right direction.
And information like that isn’t being considered by the Bulls on Wall Street.
Nor are they focused on the unfair trade practices that disadvantage United States business. The fearmongers only see China’s promises to raise tariffs on United States goods.
China is our most potent adversary. It effectively controls our supply chain in many areas. It not only has been imposing tariffs even before the Trump tariffs, but it steals our intellectual property, violates the parameters of the World Trade Organization, bribes officials at multilateral institutions to our disadvantage, and uses child and slave labor to make products consumed in the United States.
Many of those who are comfortable with the status quo argue for free trade. But even a Ricardian economist must surely realize that the doctrine of comparative advantage goes out the window when trading partners cheat by stealing intellectual property, using slaves to make products, dumping into the free market of the country, and imposing a tax (tariff) on the products the host country is trying to export to its trading partner. The unfair trade also occurs by imposing regulatory barriers on the host country that effectively deter free trade.
That is what has been going on in the U.S.-China trade relationship, as well as with most other nations of the world.
The imposition of United States tariffs should not cause a major disruption as most nations desire trade with the U.S. In fact, more than 50 nations have already reached out hoping to resolve trade conflicts with us.
The fundamentals of our economy will continue to strengthen and promote more fair trade, which in turn will open the spigots for free trade. Those who are panicking now will be shown to have been willing to remain on a suboptimum dirt path rather than exit to a more prosperous, long-term superhighway.
Andy Biggs represents Arizona’s 5th District.