Poll: Will President Trump’s Tariffs Be Good For Wyoming Residents?

There is no hotter economic or poltical topic right now than President Trump's tariffs on products from foreign countries.

Arguments For Tariffs

The president says tariffs are needed to correct what he says are long-standing unfair trade practices by foreign countries. A fact sheet from the White House on the tariff plan last month included the following: ''Large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits have led to the hollowing out of our manufacturing base; resulted in a lack of incentive to increase advanced domestic manufacturing capacity; undermined critical supply chains; and rendered our defense-industrial base dependent on foreign adversaries.''

China is facing the steepest tariffs at 125 percent, as opposed to the 10 percent tariffs imposed on other countries. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso on Wednesday took to the floor of the Senate to warn of the dangers of American dependency on China.

The president also argues that the tariffs will raise money for the federal government. He's even said the tariffs at some point may raise enough money to allow for the elimination of the federal income tax.

And finally he has argued that the tariffs will serve as a negotiating tool to get better trade deals with foreign countries.

President Trump has admitted the tariffs may raise prices over the short term, but he says the long-term benefits will be well worth it.

Needless to say, not everyone is thrilled with the tariffs.

Arguments Against Tariffs

While most of the criticism has come from Democrats, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has also expressed concerns.

Cruz has been quoted as saying that while tariffs could be useful over the short term, there could be issues over the long run. He recently told CBS news "And the other path, and there are some in the administration who advocate this, the other path is high tariffs forever in perpetuity. High American tariffs and high retaliatory tariffs from our trading partners. That outcome, that path, would be a disaster. That would be bad for Texas, bad for America. So what I'm urging the president is go down path number one. Don't go down path number two."

Tariff critics in general argue that the policy will raise prices on an American public that is already having a hard time coping with inflation.

A lot of critics also claim the goal of returning manufacturing jobs to the United States in large numbers just isn't realistic. Some tariff opponents point to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 as an example of the dangers posed by tariffs.

Many economists blame that bill for helping to cause the Great Depression.

So what do you think? Will the tariffs be good for Wyoming residents? Take our poll and give us your opinion!