Trump’s Authoritarian War on Trade

Podcast audio:

In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer examine the Trump administration’s recent tariff policy and the legal, economic, and political disruptions they create.

Among the topics covered:

• Why tariffs are not a proper foreign policy instrument to deter the threat from China;
• Why all justifications for tariffs are arbitrary and collectivistic in nature;
• How the obsession with trade deficits reveals outright ignorance of economic principles;
• How legal ambiguity has enabled the executive to wield authoritarian power;
• How Trump’s whim-driven rule is pushing the country toward authoritarianism;
• The economic chaos caused by the tariffs;
• What hopes exist for reversing the policy.

Recommended in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s articles “America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business” and “The Moratorium on Brains.” The podcast was recorded on April 9, 2025 and posted on April 10, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.