Tariffs are Trump's weapon of choice in on-again, off-again trade wars with Colombia, Canada, Mexico, China, importers of cars, importers of steel and aluminum

Higher tariffs would unambiguously reduce real gross domestic product and would likely push inflation up, though the size of impact depends on other factors. Somewhat counterintuitively, we think they’re unlikely to help in reducing the trade deficit, an oft-stated goal of Trump’s.

Trump wants to reduce the $1.2 trillion trade deficit, so he’s putting tariffs on popular imported goods from smartphones to household appliances.