Trade tariffs: a story of power and resistance

The Tariff Myth That Keeps Workers Poor

Every morning the media spins a soothing lullaby: “Tariffs protect American jobs.”
The lullaby is a lie.

The truth is that tariffs are a weapon wielded by corporate elites to shift the cost of their profit‑driven expansion onto the backs of low‑wage workers, small farmers, and already‑burdened communities. The 2025 executive order signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025—mandating cabinet secretaries to draft new tariff recommendations by April 1, 2025—was not a bold move for national security; it was a power play to give megacorporations a legal shield for extracting more wealth from the public. [Tax Foundation](https://taxfoundation.

If you think tariffs are a blunt instrument that hurts “everyone equally,” ask yourself why the price tags on imported steel and electronics have jumped 30‑45 % while CEOs of the same industries see record bonuses. The disparity is not a coincidence; it is by design.

Who Really Pulls the Strings

• Corporate lobbyists: The top 10 trade‑policy firms spend $1.2 billion a year on Washington lobbying, according to OpenSecrets. Their clients—steel giants, tech behemoths, agribusiness conglomerates—demand tariffs that protect their market share, not the worker.
• Political donors: The top 5 corporate donors to the 2024 election cycle each contributed over $10 million to candidates who championed “tariff‑friendly” legislation.
• Think‑tank puppeteers: “Free‑trade” think‑tanks are funded, in part, by the very corporations that benefit when tariffs are framed as national security measures.

These interests converge on one point: wealth extraction. By imposing tariffs on foreign goods, they force domestic producers to raise prices, allowing them to pocket the difference while the rest of us foot the bill.

The Hidden War on Climate

Tariffs are not just an economic weapon; they are an environmental one. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 TradeTech Forum highlighted a paradox: AI can slash compliance costs in a high‑tariff world, yet the environmental cost of additional freight emissions from rerouted supply chains is largely ignored. [WEF](https://www.weforum.

• Increased shipping: Tariffs on low‑carbon imports force manufacturers to source domestically, often from older, less efficient plants. This adds 12 % more CO₂ per ton of goods moved, according to a 2024 EPA report.
• Supply‑chain fragmentation: When companies dodge tariffs by reshoring, they lose the ability to aggregate shipments, leading to more trucks on the road and higher diesel consumption.
• Policy blind‑spot: Federal climate legislation has never tied tariff policy to carbon accounting. The result? A hidden subsidy for polluters under the guise of “protecting jobs.”

The climate crisis is a race against time. Tariffs that prioritize short‑term corporate profit over long‑term planetary health are a betrayal of intergenerational justice.

Resistance Is Not a Choice—It’s Survival

Workers are not passive victims; they are already fighting back, and their resistance offers a template for a just trade future.

• Union coalitions: The United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists have launched a joint “Fair Trade, Not Tariff War” campaign, demanding that any trade barrier be paired with binding wage guarantees and environmental standards.
• Community buy‑outs: In the Rust Belt, cooperatives have purchased former steel plants, converting them into green manufacturing hubs that pay living wages and run on renewable energy.
• Legal challenges: Progressive law firms have filed over 150 lawsuits since 2022 challenging tariff implementations as violations of the World Trade Organization’s “most‑favoured‑nation” principle.

These actions prove that organized resistance can turn tariffs from a tool of oppression into a catalyst for systemic change—if we choose to amplify it.

What a real‑world alternative looks like

• Public investment in green infrastructure: Redirect tariff revenues into community solar, affordable housing, and transit.
• International labor standards: Tie any future tariff to enforceable contracts guaranteeing living wages and collective bargaining rights abroad.
• Transparent tariff audits: Mandate annual, publicly accessible audits of tariff impacts on price inflation, wage growth, and carbon emissions.

The Lies They Feed You About Free Trade

The mainstream narrative paints tariffs as the antithesis of free trade, but it conveniently ignores the structural free‑trade that already exists: a system where corporations move capital across borders at will, while workers are shackled by national borders.

False claim #1: “Tariffs protect American jobs.”

• Debunked: A 2024 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found that each 1 % tariff increase reduces U.S. manufacturing employment by 0.2 %, while the targeted industries see profit margins rise by 3‑5 %.

False claim #2: “The US has no other trade barriers.”

• Debunked: Non‑tariff barriers—such as customs delays, regulatory red tape, and discriminatory standards—cost the U.S. economy $350 billion annually, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (2023).

False claim #3: “Tariffs are a short‑term measure, not a permanent policy.”

• Debunked: Since the 2018 trade war, tariff rates have increased cumulatively by 23 %, and no administration has reversed all of them. The entrenched bureaucracy and lobbying networks make tariffs a self‑perpetuating fixture.

These lies persist because they serve the interests of a corporate‑state alliance that profits from uncertainty. The public, however, pays the price in higher grocery bills, inflated housing costs, and a deteriorating climate.

Why This Should Make You Angry

Because every time you pay $5 more for a pair of jeans, you’re financing a system that extracts wealth from your paycheck and pollutes the planet you’ll inherit.

Because the elite hide behind national security rhetoric to push policies that enrich them while sacrificing the health of working families and the environment.

Because the media’s silence on the true cost of tariffs is a betrayal of its watchdog duty.

Because the absence of a unified, people‑powered alternative is the only thing standing between this predatory status quo and a future built on equity, sustainability, and democratic control of trade.

We must stop treating tariffs as a political afterthought and start confronting them as the core battleground of power, profit, and planetary survival.

Exposing the Misinformation

The debate over tariffs is riddled with fabricated claims from both the left and the right. Below are the most pernicious falsehoods still circulating and why they crumble under scrutiny.

Calling out these falsehoods is not a partisan act; it’s a defense of truth against any narrative that obscures who truly benefits from trade policy.

The Path Forward

We stand at a crossroads. The path of continuing to feed the tariff‑industrial complex will lead to deeper inequality, higher emissions, and a fractured democracy.

• Living‑wage guarantees for any industry shielded by tariffs.
• Carbon‑adjusted tariffs that penalize high‑emission imports and reward clean production.
• Community‑controlled revenue streams where tariff proceeds fund universal health care, affordable housing, and green jobs.

The power to rewrite the story of trade lies not with CEOs or lobbyists, but with workers, community organizers, and informed citizens who demand transparency and justice.

If you are still comfortable paying higher prices while the elite line their pockets, ask yourself: *What kind of society do we want to live in?

If you choose to fight, the tools are already in your hands—unions, cooperatives, public hearings, and a growing body of research exposing the true cost of tariffs. Use them.

Sources

• Trump Tariffs: The Economic Impact of the Trump Trade War – Tax Foundation
• US Tariffs: What’s the Impact? – J.P. Morgan Global Research
• Tariff Shock and Other Top International Trade Stories of 2025 – World Economic Forum
• Bureau of Labor Statistics – Consumer Price Index Data (2024)
• U.S. Office of the United States Trade Representative – Current Tariff Listings (2023)
• EPA – Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Steel Production (2024)