President Donald J. Trump, our nation’s (returning) and now 47th commander in chief, has once again drawn a line in the sand.
A very bold and bright line it is!
On April 2, 2025 — fittingly named “Liberation Day” — Trump unveiled a sweeping tariff plan that strikes at the heart of globalism, free trade absolutism, and the corporate-driven rot that’s hollowed out the American economy for decades.
This isn’t just an economic policy — it’s a war strategy.
A strategy to win back our factories, rebuild the American middle class, and finally declare independence from the bankrupt ideology of global free trade that’s dragged this country into cultural decay and economic submission.
Trump’s new tariffs represent the most aggressive push yet to bring manufacturing back to U.S. soil. A 10% baseline tariff on all imports — with targeted penalties of up to 70% on nations like China — is not a tweak. It’s a declaration: the days of letting hostile foreign powers undercut American industry are over.
The days of sacrificing American workers for cheap goods and globalist profits are over. The days of “free trade” dogma — tied to the failed policies of open borders, multicultural chaos, and national decline — are over.
Manufacturing Is National Security — And Freedom
Let’s be clear: you cannot have a strong nation without a strong manufacturing base. You cannot have sovereignty if your steel, your microchips, your medicine, your energy — your very survival — depend on nations like China, who would gladly see America collapse from within.
For 30 years, the globalist elite told us that outsourcing jobs and industries to the lowest bidder would “lift all boats.” What they didn’t say is that only the yachts would rise — while the American worker drowned.
Tariffs are the only rational and moral response to this betrayal.
They level the playing field. They punish cheating. They reward loyalty.
They send a message to American companies: if you want access to the American market, build in America. Period. Already, we’re seeing the effects.
Companies like Nvidia, Johnson & Johnson, and even foreign giants like SoftBank are pledging billions in U.S.-based production.
Why? Because they know Trump means business.
This is what leadership looks like: a president who isn’t afraid to break the free trade cult’s stranglehold on Washington and fight for the forgotten men and women who built this country.
Free Trade: A Trojan Horse for National Collapse
Free trade was never just about economics.
It was the economic wing of a broader ideological war — a war against borders, against cultural cohesion, against national pride.
It marched hand-in-hand with open borders, mass migration, and the lie of a multicultural utopia. What it delivered instead was fentanyl, ghost towns, supply chain fragility, and a generation of Americans watching their futures shipped to Beijing for pennies on the dollar.
The globalist vision — one market, one workforce, one cultureless blob — required the destruction of American manufacturing. It required the hollowing out of our towns.
It required convincing Americans that their jobs, their culture, even their very identity, were expendable. Trump’s tariffs are the answer to that globalist lie. They’re not just about making things — they’re about believing in ourselves again.
The Critics Are Wrong — Again
Of course, the same people who shipped American jobs to China are screaming that tariffs will cause “inflation” or “retaliation.”
These are the same experts who said NAFTA would be a win for everyone, who cheered as we let China into the WTO, who promised that “free markets” would solve everything, as entire industries vanished from American soil.
They were wrong then. They’re wrong now.
Yes, tariffs will raise prices on some imported goods.
But they will also create American jobs, bring home critical industries, and reduce our reliance on fragile foreign supply chains.
That’s called investing in your future. That’s called patriotism. A little short-term price increase is a small cost for the return of American dominance, which middle America understands intuitively.
Let’s also talk retaliation. If countries like China or the EU want to retaliate, let them. We don’t need their garbage imports.
We need jobs, factories, and independence.
We don’t need more cheap plastic — we need strength.
Economic self-sufficiency isn’t just smart policy — it’s national security.
The Only Long-Term Path Forward
There is no other path to sustained American growth.
Here’s the newsflash:
- The service economy is not enough.
- Silicon Valley alone will not save us.
- We need industry.
- We need hard work.
- We need to make things again — in Detroit, in Pittsburgh, in Youngstown, in every town the globalists turned into a punchline.
This isn’t nostalgia — it’s necessity for America’s survival.
President Trump understands what the so-called experts never did: that real power comes from self-reliance.
From steel mills and shipyards. From men and women clocking in to build things that last.
That’s what made America great before — and it’s what will make us great again.
These tariffs aren’t temporary.
They’re transformational.
They are the first strike in a long-overdue economic revolution.
It’s time to take back what’s ours.
It’s time to make America a manufacturing powerhouse again.
Robert Chernin is a business leader, political adviser, and podcast host. He has been a consultant on presidential, senatorial, congressional, and gubernatorial races, including roles in the campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. Robert serves as chairman of Israel Appreciation Day, American Center for Education and Knowledge, and The American Coalition. Read Robert Chernin’s Reports — More Here.
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