Trump's Tariffs: Protecting America or Punishing Its Workers?

By Tucker McAllister | Circus of Power | March 20, 2026

When the Delco plant in Millbrook shuttered back in 2016, it wasn't just a line on some economist's spreadsheet. It was 1,200 families gutted overnight—men like my old neighbor Hank, who'd welded chassis for 30 years, suddenly staring at foreclosure notices while the kids' college funds evaporated. We blamed cheap imports from China flooding the market, undercutting American steel and parts. That's why I backed tariffs during my time as mayor: targeted ones, smart ones, to level the playing field and bring jobs back to towns like ours. Fast-forward a decade, and President Trump's expanded tariffs—25% on steel, 10-20% on a slew of Chinese goods—are supposed to be the big fix. But here's the rub: they're not saving factories. They're hurting them. Badly. And with oil prices spiking from the Iran mess, this policy that's meant to make America strong is squeezing the life out of the very workers it's supposed to protect.

Let's cut through the D.C. spin. New reports this week paint a grim picture for manufacturers on the ground. According to the Oregonian and the Los Angeles Times, 40% of small U.S. factories are reporting higher input costs because of these tariffs. We're talking raw materials like aluminum and electronics components that come with a tariff tax stamped right on them. In the Midwest, where auto parts suppliers feed the Big Three, firms are laying off 5-10% of their staff just to stay afloat. Take the case of a parts maker in Ohio—my home state—detailed in a fresh ISM report: their manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) has dipped to 48, signaling contraction for the third straight month. That's not growth; that's factories idling machines and sending good men home early.

I get the appeal. Trump himself touted it on X last week: "Tariffs make us strong!" And he's not wrong in theory. Back in his first term, those steel tariffs did coax a few mills back online, adding maybe 8,000 jobs in the sector by 2019, according to Commerce Department figures. It's populist economics at its core: why let Beijing dump subsidized junk here while our plants rust? I've said it before—free trade sounds great until you're the one picking up the tab for offshoring. But theory and reality? They're miles apart right now. A Guardian poll out yesterday shows 70% of Americans, across party lines, saying these tariffs are costing them more at the checkout. Households are shelling out an extra $1,200 a year on everything from washing machines to car repairs, per the survey. And unemployment for native-born workers has ticked up to 4.7%, as U.S. News reported this morning. That's not "winning" for the welders and assemblers in places like Millbrook.

The National Association of Manufacturers isn't mincing words either. Their CEO, Jay Timmons, called it out in a statement this week: these broad tariffs are "squashing" domestic jobs instead of shielding them. Why? Because American factories don't operate in a vacuum. We import intermediate goods—steel coils, circuit boards, you name it—to make our final products competitive. Slap a 25% duty on that steel, even if it's "protected," and suddenly your costs balloon. A mid-sized fabricator in Pennsylvania told the LA Times they're passing on 15% of those hikes to customers, but who can afford it? Not the trucker buying a new axle or the farmer upgrading his tractor. And with the Strait of Hormuz half-shut down from the Iran strikes—oil at $95 a barrel, gas averaging $4.50 nationally per Bloomberg—this tariff squeeze is like pouring salt in an open wound. Energy costs are up 15-20% in a week, hitting factories that run 24/7 on diesel generators and heated warehouses. It's a double hit: imported parts pricier, fuel to run the lines even pricier.

They'll tell you it's temporary pain for long-term gain. The U.S. Trade Representative's office is pushing back, arguing these tariffs force trading partners to negotiate better deals, just like they did with Mexico and Canada in the USMCA. Fair point—Trump's team points to a dip in the China trade deficit, still hovering around $300 billion but down from peaks. And sure, some sectors like semiconductors are seeing investments pour in, thanks to the CHIPS Act layered on top. But for the average factory town? It's not adding up. On X, #TariffsHurting is trending with real worker stories: a welder from Michigan posting about his plant's latest round of cuts, or a Texas machinist griping that "tariffs ain't bringing jobs; they're chasing 'em away." One viral thread from a former steelworker echoes what I saw in Millbrook: "Thought Trump would save us. Now my overtime's gone, and the Chinese steel's still sneaking in through loopholes."

This isn't about bashing the president—I voted for him twice because he gets the fight against the swamp. But America First means results for working people, not excuses from think tanks. Remember the Delco closure? We lost those jobs to offshoring, sure, but also to policies that let Wall Street chase short-term profits over long-term stability. Tariffs were our weapon, but these blanket ones feel like swinging a sledgehammer in a china shop. They're acting as a consumption tax on American households, as one economist put it in a widely shared Instagram reel with 10,000 views. Beijing's laughing all the way to the bank—our factories slow down, their exports reroute through Vietnam or Mexico, and the jobs? They evaporate.

And let's not ignore the bigger picture. With the Iran war dragging into day 21—Trump telling crowds in D.C. that Iranian leaders are "all gone" while missiles fly—global supply chains are a mess. Europe and China, who rely on that Hormuz strait for 70% of their oil transit per Geopolitical Futures, are scrambling. But we're the ones paying at the pump and in the factory. Why are we escalating over there while our own manufacturing PMI contracts? Trump's right to question why Europe, Korea, Japan, and China aren't pulling their weight—he said it himself on X: "We don’t need [the Strait]; they do." But if tariffs are supposed to insulate us, they're failing the test. Small manufacturers aren't seeing the promised reshoring; instead, they're eyeing automation or offshoring to dodge the costs altogether.

The counterargument from the free-trade crowd? They'll say tariffs distort markets and invite retaliation—China's already hiking duties on U.S. soybeans and pork, hurting farmers in Iowa. True enough, but I've never been a fan of the gospel of globalization that hollowed out the Rust Belt. What I am a fan of is pragmatism: tariffs that target cheaters, not our own supply chains. We need surgical strikes—exemptions for critical inputs, incentives for domestic sourcing, and real enforcement against transshipment scams. The Biden-era tweaks to steel tariffs showed promise by focusing on national security sectors. Trump could build on that, not double down on the broad brush.

Look, I've been in the trenches. As mayor, I lobbied for local buy-American rules on city contracts, and it kept a few machine shops humming. But watching this unfold now? It's a reminder that good intentions don't pay the bills. Democrats are crowing about "economic warning signs for Republicans," as the New York Times put it, eyeing the midterms. But this isn't partisan—it's a wake-up for anyone who cares about putting Americans back to work. If tariffs aren't delivering factories, we need to fix them fast. Congress should haul in the USTR for hearings, listen to the NAM and the line workers, not just the lobbyists. And Mr. President, pivot to targeted tools: subsidies for reshoring, penalties for polluters abroad, and a real audit of who's really benefiting from this trade war.

In Millbrook, we rebuilt after Delco closed by fighting smart—community grants, vocational training, and yes, pressure on Washington for fair trade. America can do the same on a national scale. But only if we stop the elite experimentation and start delivering for the folks who make this country run. Otherwise, the American Dream won't be offshored—it'll just fade away, one layoff at a time.

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Tucker McAllister is a former mayor of Millbrook, Ohio and writes on trade, immigration, and working-class America.

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