The Trump administration, with its habit for converting larceny into policy, is preparing to refund roughly $166 billion in tariffs to the very corporations that already collected the money from the public. One might as well reimburse a bank robber for wear and tear on his ransom notes.
Ford expects $1.3 billion. GM, $500 million. What noble purpose shall the torrent of cash serve? Distributed among customers who paid tariff-bloated prices? Reduced prices of vehicles sold now? Will Ford and GM ease the financial burden of citizens with bank accounts squeezed in the first place? Of course not. Automakers, like other companies getting tariff refunds from Trump, say they'll deposit them in their accounts to “boost earnings.”
Thus, we have the whole farce. The public pays inflated prices while corporate titans lecture us about patriotism. Trump's Treasury sends them a rebate for expenses passed onto the public. Finally, the same corporations announce improved quarterly earnings, and financial press hails it as evidence of managerial brilliance.
The American consumer, meanwhile, stands blinking in the smoke like a peasant who has just watched all his or her possessions loaded into the back of a thief’s wagon with nothing left behind but...
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