Already attacking imported goods and labor, Trump targets imported car carriers

(Originally published June 16 in “What in the World“) Forget tariffs. Trump is now escalating his war on U.S. consumers by imposing fees on the ships importing cars.

With his on-again, off-again tariffs having reduced the ability of U.S. business to plan more than three to six months ahead, Trump back in April added to the fun by imposing arrival fees on ships from fleets with China-made vessels. His nutty notion is that doing so will somehow miraculously revive shipbuilding in the United States.

To help this impossible notion along, Trump has now slapped a fee on ro-ros—the “roll-on, roll-off” ships that specialize in carrying cars across oceans—whether they’re built in China, part of fleets that include China-made ships, arriving in the U.S. with cars or departing with laden with U.S.-made vehicles. Will it work? Of course not. Will it raise prices further for Americans looking to buy a car? Absolutely. Ro-ro operators, perhaps not the most unbiased bunch to ask for a calculation, say sticker prices will rise by about $300 per car.

Imports aren’t the only target of Trump’s ire, of course. He’s now promising to expand his hunt for more foreign laborers to deport.