Some American businesses are quietly running the math on Trump’s new tariffs and concluding that the real economic pain has not even started yet. TARIFFS—THE SELF-INFLICTED TAX HIKE ON AMERICA President Trump’s sprawling tariff regime is not a trade strategy; it is a shocking plot exposed—a devastating, self-inflicted tax hike on American businesses and consumers that confirms the Deep State agenda of protecting inefficient producers at the expense of the working class. CEOs and trade groups now confirm that tariffs have piled nearly $4 billion in new taxes on essential goods like food, clothing, and school supplies in just two months of the summer of 2025. This policy is a profound betrayal of public trust in free-market conservatism. The tariffs behave exactly like the government meddling and sprawling industrial policy that the conservative movement is sworn to oppose. The institutional subversion of core conservative economic principles is complete: instead of punishing Beijing and Brussels, the invoices confirm that American suppliers are the ones under sanctions. ELITE ARROGANCE AND THE CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF METRICS The Administration’s own chosen scorecard—a shrinking trade deficit, rising manufacturing GDP, and higher household income—has resulted in a catastrophic failure. By late 2025, the trade deficit has swelled by 23%, manufacturing’s share of GDP has slipped, and factory activity is declining. This demonstrates the elite arrogance of policymakers who ignore real-world business data in favor of nationalist rhetoric. Surveys from institutions like the Dallas Fed show that barely 2% of business owners view the tariffs as positive. The foreseeable catastrophe is that this economic pain has not yet peaked. Importers front-loaded shipments to mask the immediate impact, but as temporary buffers fade, economists project the tariff regime will shave significant points off U.S. growth and impose an effective tax hike of $1,600 per household in 2026 alone. This burden lands hardest on the lower- and middle-income families who can least afford it. BREAKING Donald Trump warns the Supreme Court that if they mess with Tariffs it will be a huge national Security Risk “Ive ended eight wars largely because of trade and because of tariffs. If we go the other tariff route it wont give you the same national security” Hes right pic.twitter.com/37ucAbAvPu — MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) December 7, 2025 INSTITUTIONAL SUBVERSION: CONSERVATIVE VALUES VS. PROTECTIONIST REALITY The conservative base, which rightly demands low taxes, predictable rules, and accountability, is facing a direct ideological conflict. A policy that raises taxes, swells the trade deficit, and shrinks manufacturing’s share of GDP fails the common-sense test it was supposed to pass. This reliance on a blunt, permanent tariff wall is an act of regulatory malice that shields inefficient domestic producers while punishing the vast majority of businesses that rely on stable supply chains. This disastrous cost is the inability of the government to distinguish between targeted defense tools and a sweeping, permanent tax on the American economy. The shocking plot is that the “America First” trade strategy is, in reality, a wealth transfer from American consumers to subsidized, protected industries. Sources: Thomson Reuters: Impact of tariffs on tax and trade Reason: Trump’s tariffs fail their own test U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The impact of tariffs J.P. Morgan: U.S. tariffs current events analysis

WASHINGTON—What happens when rules designed to ensure public safety fray so much that undocumented residents can obtain commercial driver’s licenses for big rigs, even if they are not qualified to drive them and do not speak English? In 2025, Americans saw the danger of allowing unvetted migrants to drive big rigs without obtaining bona fide commercial driver’s licenses, often thanks to what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy calls “scam schools.” In November, an illegal immigrant with a California commercial driver’s license was charged with killing a newlywed couple in Oregon. In October, an immigrant truck driver who had been in the United States illegally since 2011 allegedly caused a fatal accident. He did not hold a valid CDL, the New York Post reported. In August, three people were killed in Florida after an Indian driver made an illegal U-turn on a major freeway. If you see the video, you have to wonder, what was the illegal immigrant from India thinking when he blocked all lanes of the highway? And who gave this guy a CDL? The answer, according to the Department of Homeland Security: California. Again. After President Donald Trump withheld $40 million in federal funds to punish California for not complying with its new English-speaking requirements, Gov. Gavin Newsom revoked some 17,000 CDLs. Good. Fatal crashes were bound to happen more frequently when unqualified individuals who should not be behind the wheel were able to drive 18-wheelers that weigh as much as 80,000 pounds—and on roads with family cars, light trucks, and pedestrians. As Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association, said of big-truck drivers, “They should be able to read a runaway ramp truck sign.” Truckers who can’t read traffic signs won’t see warnings they need to see. But as a report you can read at TruckingResurgence.com informed, the requirement that truck drivers be able to read road signs and basic English instructions “was essentially removed in 2016.” “This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy maintained. “Under Joe Biden and [his Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.” According to the report, “90% of trucking carriers remain unrated for safety.” Scary. When truck drivers aren’t properly trained by experienced professionals who know why smart regulations make travel safer, they may not appreciate how lethal their profession can be. So they might flout the rule limiting drivers to 11-hour days behind the wheel, Enos noted. And they might tinker with electronic monitoring devices meant to make sure that they don’t drive too much in a day. Another issue is the problem of “chameleon carriers” who shutter when they are busted for flouting regulations, then reopen with new names. It takes brass to go after bad actors at a time when America is experiencing a trucker shortage. That’s probably why the Biden administration did not make compliance a top priority. On the one hand, trucking provides opportunities to men and women who aren’t interested in desk jobs. But the demands—long hours, living on the road away from family—mean the job is not for everyone. The rules and testing regimen can discourage marijuana users, which Enos tells me has limited the driver pool. But professionals want a system that protects them from bad actors. So it’s heartening that the Trump administration isn’t out to simply cut the size of government. Duffy wants to make it work. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Keep on Truckin’—If You Are Rightly Licensed appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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