Tax Mex

And I've got such a long way to go
To make it to the border of Mexico
--Christopher Cross

Last night President Trump announced that tariffs will be imposed on goods coming from Mexico until the Mexican government gains better control over migration to the southern US border. There is nothing smart about using tariffs as a policy tool, as these pages have frequently discussed.

On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP. The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2019

However, complaints from many of Trump's detractors are likely to be muted. Although his enemies may not like it when Trump taxes economic activity, they are generally not opposed to the idea of taxes themselves. If they point out the negative economic consequences of tariffs, then Trump's opponents leave themselves open to future criticism when they themselves propose taxes of some sort.

On the other hand, hypocrisy does not seem to bother political partisans.

Of course, many Trump opponents may silently welcome tariffs for another insidious reason. They know that by taxing economic activity, the president weakens his re-election potential.