Tariffs
It was a wild news week on the tariffs front. First, U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on goods imported from China, Canada, and Mexico. Goods from Mexico were to be subject to a 25% tariff when entering the U.S., while goods from China were to be subject to a 10% rate, and goods from Canada were to face either a 10% (energy goods) or 25% markup (non-energy goods).
The announcements set off a flurry of activity. China announced counter tariffs on the U.S., mostly aimed at energy exports. Mexico and Canada, after threatening retaliations, reached temporary agreements with the U.S. to pause tariffs until March 4, 2025. The centerpiece of each agreement is the deployment by Canada and Mexico of 10,000 enforcement personnel to their respective borders with the U.S. The White House says it will reevaluate the tariffs based on the effectiveness of these actions by Canada and Mexico.
Analysis and eternal perspective: The initial announcement of tariffs was unsurprising—President Trump had repeatedly promised as much on the campaign trail—but it still caused quite a stir in political and economic circles. Unsurprisingly, stock markets worldwide receded on the news while the U.S. dollar strengthened. On Capitol Hill, Democrats largely used the former reaction to decry the tariffs while Republicans used the latter to defend them. President Trump acknowledged U.S. consumers might feel some “pain” in the form of higher prices on goods, but contended the tariffs were necessary to accomplish needed border security assistance from the three countries. The subsequent announcement that Canada and Mexico would deploy additional personnel to the border underscored the latter argument.
The issue of tariffs is likely to continue generating white-hot debate and opinion on both Capitol Hill and across America. As Jesus followers, we should be careful to both, a) engage the public debate thoughtfully (there are merited reasons for a wide array of views on the matter, and the ensuing public policy is strengthened when people of good faith engage it thoughtfully), and b) take seriously our mandate to be the vessel through which the needs of the poor are met in any economic environment.
On the latter point, there is a vibrant debate underway about the role of the government in caring for the poor—a debate that will likely intensify if consumers do indeed feel “pain” through increased cost of living. Yet again, it is a debate that can be thoughtfully participated in from a variety of viewpoints. Even so, you and I should very clearly acknowledge our mandate from scripture to personally serve the poor and needy (this instruction is one of the most frequently issued in scripture—a few examples are Pr. 31:8-9, Ps, 82:3-4, Pr. 28:27, and Deut. 15:11). Deuteronomy 15:11 is particularly relevant as it plainly states that poverty will never be “solved,” but calls us to it anyway as a part of continually turning our hearts away from an inward focus.
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.