Comparing Trump's tariffs, pure free trade, and Import Certificates trade policies.

Comparing Trump's tariffs, pure free trade, and Import Certificates trade policies.

Foreign trade per se, is of no harm but rather of some benefit to participating nations. However the same is not true if the nation experiences annual negative net balances of foreign trade, (i.e. annual trade deficits).
Due to USA's annual negative balances of international trade, we've lost entire segments of some industries. USA's wage dependent families have and will continue to be detrimentally affected by our annual trade deficits.

Although both USA tariffs do, and the proposed USA income certificate, (IC) policy would effectively increase prices paid by USA purchasers of foreign goods, the more market rather than government driven IC policy is preferable to the policies of tariffs, or pure free trade, for a nation that otherwise experiences annual trade deficits.

Within an IC policy, any increase of foreign goods prices beyond reflecting federal fees that exporters of USA goods choose, (they are not required to pay for acquiring the transferable single use certificates based upon the value of their goods exported from the USA), is an indirect, but effective price subsidy of USA's exported goods. Those federal IC fees should not exceed our governments net administrative expenses due to the trade policy; But unlike tariffs, IC policy would certainly almost,if not entirely eliminate USA's chronic annual trade deficits while increasing our GDP more than otherwise.

Refer to Wikipedia's “Import Certificates” article, link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Import_cer...
Respectfully, Supposn