I was in the gym earlier today trying to ward off the effects of trans-Pacific travel and 12 hours of time zone changes when the news flashed across the TV that the US government was issuing another round of tariffs against China.

This may be the dumbest move they could possibly make.

It’s so stupid, in fact, that I couldn’t contain myself in print. For this, I had to go to audio… and record a pretty epic rant on the absurdity of tariffs.

In short, if China is crazy enough to produce and sell steel to the United States at prices that guarantee they’ll LOSE MONEY, the US government shouldn’t impose tariffs. They should send the Chinese a fruit basket.

China is basically giving the US free money. Don’t be ridiculous. Take the money.

The US is NOT the loser in this situation. America is the winner. The Chinese are willing to sell steel at below their cost of production. Duh.

But the US government insists that they need to protect the American steel industry because it’s vital to national security.

Seriously? The largest, most advanced economy in the world thinks that the production of a basic commodity is vital to national security?

If that’s the case, then what else is vital to national security– the lumber industry? Hip Hop? Twitter?

Steel is a tiny industry in the US that employs around 90,000 people. Starting a trade war over this (which is historically BAD for everyone’ prosperity) is just plain silly.

This is my favorite podcast I’ve done in at least a year. You can tune in here…