One Year After Trump's Tariffs: A Fight Worth Finishing, Even If It Hurts

By Tucker McAllister | Circus of Power | April 17, 2026

It's been exactly a year since President Trump marked what he called "Liberation Day" on April 2, 2025, when he rolled out those broad tariffs on China and a slew of other trading partners. I remember the day well, sitting in my kitchen in Millbrook, Ohio, with a cup of black coffee going cold as I watched the announcement. Back in 2016, when the Delco plant shuttered its doors for good, shipping 2,000 jobs overseas to cheaper labor in Mexico and beyond, folks here didn't need fancy economists to tell them free trade was a raw deal. We lived it—families splintered, Main Street turned into a ghost town, and the kind of quiet desperation that doesn't make headlines but hollows out a community. Trump's tariffs were supposed to be the antidote, a wall against the offshoring that's bled America dry. One year in, the results are a mixed bag: real wins on paper, real pain in the pocketbook. But if we're serious about bringing manufacturing back, this fight's just getting started.

Let's start with the good news, because there is some, and it's the kind that keeps hope alive in places like Millbrook. The United States Trade Representative's office is trumpeting a 24% drop in our goods trade deficit, from a staggering $800 billion in 2024 to $608 billion through February of this year. That's not chump change—it's hundreds of billions of dollars that aren't flowing out to foreign factories anymore. Imports from China, the big bad wolf in this story, are down a solid 15%. And in sectors like steel and autos, where the tariffs hit hardest, we've seen about 50,000 new jobs materialize. Trump himself put it bluntly back in 2025: "Factories and manufacturing jobs will come roaring back." For the welders and line workers who've been waiting a decade for that roar, it's a start. In Ohio, steel mills that were idling gears last year are humming again, thanks to duties that make imported slabs less appealing. It's proof that when you slap a tax on the cheaters, American producers get a fighting chance.

But anyone who's run a city council meeting knows you can't ignore the tough stuff. Reports from Marketplace and Politico paint a grimmer picture on the jobs front: overall manufacturing employment has shed 89,000 positions since the tariffs kicked in. Why? Higher input costs, plain and simple. Steel prices are up 20% because of the duties on foreign metal, and that ripples through to everything from car parts to appliances. Factories here in the Rust Belt are paying more for raw materials, and some are passing it on to consumers or just cutting corners on hiring. Inflation's ticked up about 4% in those input costs, squeezing the blue-collar families who were supposed to benefit most. A new study floating around Washington says we'd need tariffs as high as 42.5% to fully bring those jobs home—way steeper than what we've got now. Trump might draw the line there, and who could blame him? The last thing we need is a full-blown trade war that jacks up the price of a Ford F-150 beyond what a Millbrook mechanic can afford.

The critics are piling on, of course. You've got the free-trade evangelists at The Wall Street Journal warning of "paralyzing uncertainty" for businesses, like that's some revelation. Democrats and their coastal allies are framing this as a tax on the working class, with folks like AOC tying it to broader economic woes on X. And yeah, they're not entirely wrong—short-term pain is real. When I was mayor, we had families skipping meals to make mortgage payments after the plant closed, and higher prices today echo that squeeze. But let's call this what it is: a necessary gut check. For decades, we've been sold the myth that globalism lifts all boats. It lifted the yachts in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, sure, but it left the rowboats in Ohio sinking. The North American Free Trade Agreement and China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 supercharged offshoring, costing us millions of manufacturing jobs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, that's over 3.7 million good-paying gigs gone since then, many in towns just like mine.

They'll say tariffs are protectionism run amok, that they'll spark retaliation and hurt exports. Fair point—Mexico's imports to us are up 10%, a classic case of trade diversion where goods just reroute through friendlier borders. And sure, if every country slaps back, we could see a spiral. But look at the data: our exports to key markets have held steady, and the USTR reports "greater market access" for American goods abroad because trading partners are negotiating instead of stonewalling. Trump's team isn't blind to the risks; they've carved out exemptions for allies and focused the big guns on China, the real culprit. Remember, Beijing's been subsidizing its industries to undercut us for years—dumping cheap steel, stealing our tech, and now even meddling in the Middle East with spy satellites for Iran. Tariffs aren't just economic; they're national security. Without them, we're funding our own decline.

From where I sit, this anniversary isn't a victory lap—it's a halftime report. Manufacturing employment is still flat at 12.9 million, barely budging from pre-tariff levels. That's not roaring; that's rumbling. But contrast that with the alternative: more of the same slow bleed under the old rules. When the Delco plant left, it wasn't because American workers got lazy; it was because corporations chased the lowest wages and laxest regulations overseas. Free trade sounded great in theory—cheaper TVs for everyone!—but in practice, it meant shuttered factories and opioid epidemics in the heartland. I've buried too many friends who couldn't find steady work after that closure. Tariffs are a blunt tool, yeah, but they're the only one we've got that's actually bending the curve on the trade deficit.

The Trump administration knows the clock's ticking. With midterms looming and folks feeling the pinch at the grocery store, they're pushing offsets like the "No Tax on Tips" proposal from recent Nevada speeches, aimed at service workers who aren't seeing the manufacturing boom yet. Smart politics, but we need more. Pair those tariffs with real investments: tax credits for reshoring, vocational training in high schools, and cracking down on currency manipulation by China. And don't forget immigration—those border wins under Remain in Mexico are keeping wage suppression in check, so low-skill jobs don't get flooded by cheap labor. If we connect the dots, tariffs aren't isolated; they're part of an America First ecosystem that puts working people first.

Skeptics in the swamp will keep yapping about how this is all reckless, how we should trust the experts who botched the last 30 years of trade policy. They'll point to every job lost and ignore the ones saved, the deficit slashed, the leverage regained. But I've seen what happens when you trust the globalists: empty factories and broken promises. In Millbrook, we're still rebuilding, one small business at a time, but tariffs give us a shot at something bigger. One year in, the pain is real, but so is the progress. If Trump doubles down—maybe even hikes those rates where needed—we could see the roar he promised. Working Americans deserve that fight. Let's finish it, not fold.

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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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