By definition in a trade imbalance you are getting the imports in return. Putting aside believed Great Depression influences and tit for tat tarrifing it puts y

By definition in a trade imbalance you are getting the imports in return. Putting aside believed Great Depression influences and tit for tat tarrifing it puts your own nation's companies at a disadvantage intentionally by discouraging both efficiency and quality. Coddling them with a protected domestic market. Protecting one company means harming others who depend upon their type of outputs. This in turn harms their competiveness and can lead to domestic demand declining. Effectively imposing a tarrif is like sanctioning yourself - If protectionism was helpful shouldn't they be at least a player in the Caribbean and South and Central American markets? Cuba had its own domestic auto market for decades from sanctions and the only people to benefit were mechanics as they had to play automobile reanimator to actively used vehicles that have grown older than the oldest member of their workforce.