Many local radio stations have made a great deal of money with a piece of homespun programming sometimes called ‘Swap Shop.’ People call in to the station with items that they have for sale so the DJ can put them on the air so that they can broadcast their wares. The seller then tells the listeners how they can get in touch with them to buy the items…usually a phone number and sometimes an address. Items for sale can be quite peculiar at times. Everything from hay bales to ‘lightly’ used toilets have been offered at bargain prices.
Sometimes these shows are among the most popular on the station and can have local advertisers fighting over the radio spots. Often times the offer for sale and the offer to buy require some negotiation. These are friends and neighbors negotiating with each other for the treasured item for sale. The popularity of these shows can be attributed to the good buys that can purchased with little money, but they also are popular because people – especially in small country communities – can hear other friends and neighbors on the radio. It becomes a community gathering place over the airwaves and people tend to enjoy the give and take of a good, down-home haggling.
President Trump has often been described as a ‘deal maker.’ He likes to be styled as someone who can bargain and negotiate so that both sides in the negotiation can come out with a win. In fact, his 1987 best-selling book was entitled “The Art of the Deal.” He likes to haggle.
With his tariffs, President Trump is using the carrot and the stick approach to economic negotiations with our trading partners. It is a fact that over the years many of our trading partners have made it difficult for US companies to sell their goods overseas. On the other hand, many of these same countries have often undercut the prices of US produced goods to find large markets here for their products. In 2024 US companies imported $4.1 trillion dollars worth of foreign produced goods while US companies have only been able to sell $3.2 trillion in US produced goods and services (a $900 billion US trade deficit) to some of these same countries.1 Over the decade of 2014 to 2024 the trade deficit with China, alone, was $294.5 Billion.2 The overall trade deficit data comes by way of the very liberal leaning Council on Foreign Relations in an article where they try to explain away any economic penalties for the US arising from this trade imbalance.
President Trump is a savvy politician and he knows that if he can be seen by the constituency that elected him as ‘in their corner’ protecting US jobs and US companies’ profits, then his policies will find the support at home needed for passage in the Congress. This aspect of ‘American First’ may offset any repercussions when the costs of the tariffs are passed on to the consumers…as if they are an additional sales tax. It appears that the tariff brouhaha that Trump has brought on by his economic trade policies is really a part of ‘Swap Shop’ style international economic policies. He threatens tariffs to bring trading partners to the negotiating table to ‘defend’ US companies and workers.
The liberal press, Democratic Party politicians and even some weak-kneed Republican politicians don’t like President Trump’s economic tactics. Their voices are raised in the media to complain and offer dire warnings from ‘expert’ economists. And, there are reasons to be concerned. The history of tariff trade policy has included repercussions that appear to have ended in economic problems such as the ‘Great Depression.’1 It is also of concern that the current tariff policies have contributed to wide swings in the stock market.2 But, some trading partners are already coming to the negotiating ‘table’ and so the President’s ‘Swap Shop’ approach seems to be working.3
We here at I Vote My Vote endorse President Trump’s efforts to correct the trade imbalance and bring our trading partners to the negotiating table. Haggle on Mr. President…with prudence!
- The U.S. Trade Deficit: How Much Does It Matter? Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-trade-deficit-how-much-does-it-matter
- United States goods trade deficit with China from 2014 to 2024. (2025.). Statista.com. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/939402/us-china-trade-deficit/
- Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. (2025). Britannica.com. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Smoot-Hawley-Tariff-Act
- Krauskopf, L. (2025). Investors grapple with tariff-driven economic threat as market swings persist. Reuters.com. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/investors-grapple-with-tariff-driven-economic-threat-market-swings-persist-2025-04-11/
- Grabow, C. (2025). Do New Tariff Cut Offers Validate Trump’s Approach on Trade? Cato Institute. Retrieved from https://www.cato.org/blog/do-fresh-tariff-cut-offers-validate-trumps-approach-trade
