Subject: Re: The two-pronged goal of the tariff actions
AL: So what is the goal? Based on the administration’s public remarks, it is to eliminate large trade imbalances within a U.S.-led bloc that excludes China, other nonmarket economies and any country determined to continue running large surpluses at the expense of its partners. In remarks on Monday, Stephen Miran, the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, emphasized that the administration also sees security commitments as indelibly tied to economic ones.
If those are the contours, Mr. Trump should say so, outline the kinds of concessions he expects from allies seeking to rebalance trade and detail the common policies toward China that all members of the bloc must adopt.

DOPE:As I've said, Trump is putting the economy on a war footing

ME This is absolute bullshit that makes a great soundbite.

DOPE: Is it, now.

YES You posited that the tariffs were to put the economy on war footing, and your response evades and doesn't explain how the tariffs put our economy on war footing. In fact the tariffs do not put us on war footing at all. One can't look back in US History and see where we tried to downsize the government while spontaneously introducing large tariffs on our allies and spending large amounts to ship out illegal aliens and build walls which occupies the Army and the Air Force. Putting the economy on a war footing isn't being done and those are empty words.

World War I
Poster issued during World War I by the educational division of the U.S. Food Administration

In mobilizing for World War I, the United States expanded its governmental powers by creating institutions such as the War Industries Board (WIB) to help with military production.[4] Others, such as the Fuel Administration, introduced daylight saving time in an effort to save coal and oil while the Food Administration encouraged higher grain production and "mobilized a spirit of self-sacrifice rather than mandatory rationing."[

World War II

In the case of World War II, the U.S. government took similar measures in increasing its control over the economy. The Fall of France and the Dunkirk evacuation across the English Channel before the Battle of Britain provided the sparks that were needed to begin the country's conversion to a wartime economy and the July 1940 passing of the Two-Ocean Navy Act. The 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor prolonged and expanded those measures.

Washington felt that a greater bureaucracy was needed to help with mobilization.[6] The government raised taxes which paid for half of the costs of the war and borrowed money in the form of war bonds to cover the rest of the bill.[4] "Commercial institutions like banks also bought billions of dollars of bonds and other treasury paper, holding more than $24 billion at the war's end."[6] The creation of a handful of agencies helped funnel resources towards the war effort. One prominent agency was the War Production Board (WPB), which "awarded defense contracts, allocated scarce resources – such as rubber, copper, and oil – for military uses, and persuaded businesses to convert to military production."[4]

The United States mass-produced many vehicles, such as ships (i.e. Liberty ships), aircraft (i.e. North American P-51 Mustang), jeeps (i.e. Willys MB), and tanks (i.e. M4 Sherman).

Two thirds of the American economy had been integrated into the war effort by the end of 1943.[4] Because of the massive cooperation between government and private entities, it could be argued that the economic measures enacted prior to and during the Second World War helped lead the Allies to victory.

Introducing chaos is not putting our economy on a war footing.