Opinion piece penned by Case Dixon and published by 1819 News
Conservatives have always been crystal clear on one thing: Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. Yet too often, new “solutions” to our national debt amount to little more than forcing the American people to fork over more of their hard-earned money.
Tariffs are the latest example of this, sold as the magic bullet to fund the government, pay off the debt, and fix our trade imbalance in one fell swoop. But the closer you look, the more the shine wears off.
For decades, the conservative movement has pushed for one simple principle: cut spending to match revenue, not the other way around. The root problem isn’t that the federal government collects too little but that it spends far too much. Never in the history of our movement have we said, “If only the government had more money, they’d do the right thing.” We know better. If I believed giving Washington more money would result in wise spending, I’d skip the tariff talk entirely, advocate for higher taxes, and wipe out the debt. But I don’t, because that’s not how Washington works.
Here’s the reality: tariffs are taxes, and they’re paid by American importers. When goods arrive at our ports, the companies importing them are the ones paying the tariff. They have two choices: absorb the cost themselves – hurting their bottom line – or pass it on to consumers through higher prices. Either way, the cost is borne by American businesses or consumers – often both.
Now, tariffs can hurt foreign producers if those producers lower their prices to maintain their market share. But margins in many industries are slim, and there’s only so far they can drop before they walk away entirely. If they walk away, American consumers lose options, prices go up, and competition suffers. That’s the opposite of what a healthy market needs.
To be fair, tariffs can be used as a leverage tool in trade negotiations. I get that. But the leverage should be aimed at securing fair and reciprocal agreements. President Trump promised “tariffs for tariffs,” matching other countries’ rates exactly. Yet we’ve seen many deals struck where they are no longer charging tariffs, but we are. It may sound tough, but in practice it’s a one-sided deal that hits Americans harder than our trading partners.
There’s another problem with the idea of funding the government through tariffs: sustainability. Some have floated the idea that tariffs could replace the income tax entirely. It sounds bold. But if tariffs succeed in their stated goal of bringing manufacturing back to America, the revenue dries up. You can’t collect tariffs on goods we no longer import. In other words, you can’t have tariffs both replace the income tax and successfully reshore manufacturing at the same time – one cancels out the other.
And let’s be honest, tariffs are not new. China has used them for years to keep U.S. goods out of its markets. But China is a communist regime that doesn’t mind hurting its own citizens to protect its government’s power. That’s not America’s model. We believe in empowering individuals, entrepreneurs, and the private sector, not in using economic coercion as our primary means of control. Why would we take a page from the playbook of a government that sees its own people as expendable in service to the state?
The better way to bring businesses back isn’t to trap them here with tariffs – it’s to make America the best place in the world to operate. That means stripping away the taxes, regulations and subsidies that distort the market, letting the free market make America the obvious choice for investment. Companies should come home because it makes sense, not because they’ve run out of options.
Which brings us back to the real issue: spending. Whether the government’s money comes from tariffs, income taxes, or any other source, if we don’t get spending under control, it will never be enough. The national debt is pushing $37 trillion. In recent years, we’ve seen record federal revenues, yet the debt has continued to rise because Congress spends every dollar – and then some.
Before we anoint tariffs as the cure-all for our fiscal ills, we should ask: Are we trying to strengthen American industry, or are we just finding a new way to tax ourselves? Are we committed to the free market, or are we moving toward a model that uses government force to corner the economy? Most importantly, are we willing to make the spending cuts that are the only real path to fiscal sanity?
America’s goal should be simple: lower spending to match revenue. Win back industry by making our country the obvious choice for investment – not simply the only choice left standing. That’s the conservative way, the free-market way, and the American way.
Because at the end of the day, tariffs are still taxes. And no matter how they’re branded, the bill gets paid right here at home.
Case Dixon is a Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in Alabama’s 6th District.
