Tariffs are effectively a tax, but many partisans are overstating their impact. Frequently, the pundits are saying the tariffs being imposed on China only hurt American consumers. If tariffs only hurt the country imposing them, why would governments in the targeted countries always implement retaliatory duties? They would instead say, go ahead and hurt your consumers, but I won’t hurt my own. Trump’s tariffs are being applied strategically and not with unilateral impacts. The latest barrage will be the first to hit consumer goods, and they will only be at a 10 percent level rather than 25 percent like the previous round. China has already said it will retaliate. Indeed, most of the tariffs applied by the U.S against trading par...