Why was Israel imposing tariffs on US imports?
Trump, with his “liberation day” signing of reciprocal tariffs worldwide, is single-handedly dismantling the era of NAFTA globalization, forcing US trading partners to deal on an even playing field or go home. NAFTA hollowed out American manufacturing, and American culture itself. We became exposed to a global economy that can outcompete us via cheap garbage and an ability to “underlive” American citizens. That insane and cruel state of affairs appears to be rapidly ending. One revelation that is a real head-scratcher has been the fact that Israel has been imposing a 17% tariff on all imported American goods, despite the fact that Israel would not exist without hundreds of billions in American hand-outs. Trump threw a reciprocal 17% tariff on Israeli imports out of fairness, and Israel immediately howled. We are Israel’s largest trading partner, so any tariff is going to be felt severely by that tiny welfare nation. Israel in response has eliminated their tariffs, and now await Trump’s response, but the real question is why the tariff existed in the first place. Israel provides free healthcare to their entire nation, all paid for by the US, while Americans suffer under a grotesque and rapacious healthcare system that bankrupts over half a million US citizens each year. Is there fairness at all in that arrangement? Does our economy exist a as a slush fund for foreign nations? It appears that it has, up until now.