SperoNews's video: Dinesh D Souza: Milton Friedman is politically dumb on Trump s trade tactics

Official Washington and foreign governments are scrambling to respond to President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. On Monday, for example, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tweeted he had gotten a “commitment” from Trump that the tariffs will not apply to Australian exports. Other allies of the United States, including Japan and the EU, are expecting to be exempt from Trump’s decision to hike aluminum import taxes by 10 percent and steel import taxes by 25 percent. Some observers contend that Trump is merely using a negotiating tactic to win concessions from trading partners. According to CNBC, Luisa Santos of BusinessEurope compared Trump’s tariff to an “atomic bomb.” "The issue is that these measures are mainly affecting (U.S.) allies. They claim that the measures are directed to China, but it's basically Canada, EU, Japan, South Korea, these are natural allies of the U.S.," Santos said. Officials from Japan and the EU are meeting with their American counterparts to discuss exemptions from the tariffs. Support for Trump’s tariff has been mixed. Some Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have spoken in favor. She told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, “When President Trump says he’s putting tariffs on the table, I think tariffs are one part of reworking our trade policy overall.” Even so, former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean tweeted on Monday, “The U.S. will gain 36,000 jobs by implementing Trump’s tariffs. Problem is we will los 179,000 by implementing Trump’s tariffs.” “I use this as an extreme example to show that in the world of politics and war, it is sometimes necessary to do to them what they are doing to us, not because you are not a free trader, but you are trying to get to a free trade that you’ll never get to any other way,” D’Souza said finally. No trade war for Trump In an interview with Spero News, Paul Bonicelli of the Acton Institute said identified himself as a “purist” with regard to free trade, adding that the “benefit of free trade is the benefit of free people buying and selling to each other as they see fit.” Admitting that the U.S. exists in a “political world,” Bonicelli said that politicians say what they need to say in order to stay in power. He said that he believes that President Trump is a natural protectionist, “but is smart enough to say what he needs to say, in order to get the supporters that he wants.” However, Bonicelli said that he does not believe that Trump is seeking a trade war but wants “the rhetoric of protectionism...to drive the politics, but also to send a message to the trade partners about what are some very real violations of the free trade agreement we’re involved in.” As for trade relations with China, Bonicelli said that Trump can use his tactic to discuss with trade partners, such as China, trade barriers that hamper the free exchange of goods and services. However, he said that there are other ways to achieve Trump’s goals for international trade that are found within trade agreements such as NAFTA. “Trump is the first president since [Harry S] Truman,” Bonicelli said, “to say ‘I have a national security concern and therefore I will use executive authority to let tariffs against trading partners.” Bonicelli cautioned that Trump should use existing trade agreements to obtain the results he wants, and move to “harsher measures” if he does not get results. He then predicted that the president will soon move to modify the tariffs he has initially imposed. Bonicelli has served as executive vice president at Regent University (VA), provost at Houston Baptist University (TX), and dean of academic affairs at Patrick Henry College (VA). Do you agree with Dinesh D'Souza? Leave your comments below. Read the full story at http://speronews.co/MUDOTRKHFO35