After the last few days, it’s become quite clear that the U.S. domestic tariffs on foreign trade have nothing to do with ‘balancing trade,’ or even ‘protectionism.’

Instead, it seems to be all about extortion: extracting more from others for market access, than the access to that market normally provides. To get people to kiss the ring, grovel, and pay up… as it would be a shame if anything happened to that nice economy you have in .