The Nevada Independent Wants You to Fear Tariffs. History Says Don’t.

Once again, The Nevada Independent is pushing the familiar panic button – this time claiming tariffs “cost Nevada households more than $900 in 2025.” That headline sounds scary. It’s also deeply misleading.

Tariffs aren’t a mystery tax dropped from the sky. They’re a strategic economic tool, one this country used for generations to build the strongest middle class on Earth.

As Donald Trump has repeatedly said, tariffs can involve “short-term pain for long-term gain.” That’s not recklessness, that’s realism.

Tariffs pressure foreign governments—especially China—to stop cheating, subsidizing, and dumping cheap goods that undercut American workers. When leverage works, tariffs come down. That’s the point.

A few dollars more for imported goods doesn’t compare to the damage done when factories close, jobs disappear, and communities hollow out. Strong domestic production raises wages and stabilizes families—especially in working-class states like Nevada.

Cheap imports feel nice—until supply chains break, adversaries gain control, and America is left exposed. We learned that lesson the hard way during COVID.

Nevada isn’t just casinos and tourism. Manufacturing, logistics, mining, and warehousing all depend on a fair global trade system. Tariffs help level the playing field so Nevada workers aren’t competing against foreign governments that rig the rules.

Calling tariffs a “household cost” without mentioning the long-term benefits is like criticizing a gym membership because your muscles are sore after week one.

For decades, Washington elites promised “free trade” would lift all boats. Instead, it shipped jobs overseas and left American workers with empty promises. Tariffs flipped that script—forcing the world to deal fairly with the United States again.

That’s why President Trump was honest about it. There may be short-term adjustments. But the payoff is long-term strength, higher wages, and economic independence.

The Nevada Independent wants you to focus on a hypothetical $900. Conservatives are focused on something bigger: American jobs, American industry, and an American economy that doesn’t bend the knee to Beijing.

Different priorities. Very different outcomes.

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