I definitely agree with your concepts regarding free trade and subsidies. And I enjoyed reading this post, it was very informative! But I struggle with how we get there.

In order to have free trade, you need to have trade partners that are willing to do so. And if I understand this complex issue correctly- this has not been the case, And current trade policies have traditionally placed the U.S. at a disadvantage.

So while I understand your “jump off the bridge” analogy and it makes sense on paper. But I think that if the U.S. eliminated tarrifs, our trade partners would not follow and use it as an opportunity to serve their best interests and take advantage of the U.S.’s friendly trade policy.

To use another analogy- Trump’s “fight fire with fire” approach to this issue may be painful in the short term, I think I may yield quicker progress to get to where you are looking to arrive.