The person who punches back in self defense does not have the same level of blame as the one who started the fist fight. 

That's a meaningful difference, and not hypocritical. 

No we don't oppose it.  You can't just let someone bully you into paying them arbitrarily higher taxes.  The point of imposing retaliatory tariffs is to motivate them to remove theirs.  

They didn't start the fight but they can't just lay down and take it.  You comment is kinda like saying sell defense when your attacked is hypocritical.   

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question. 

I don't think the tariffs have anything to do with any trade deficit. They're designed to damage the economic capacity of anyone China could quickly and easily control. Like sanctioning Belarus only it's proactive instead of reactive.

So you'd damage your own economy just to damage your opposition, just like Trump?

I don't think the tariffs have anything to do with any trade deficit. They're designed to damage the economic capacity of anyone China could quickly and easily control. Like sanctioning Belarus only it's proactive instead of reactive.

You're not paying the higher taxes, American companies are. If you retaliate then you'll pay more.

How does putting tariffs on uninhabited islands accomplish that?

"So you'd hurt your fists, just to damage the person attacking you?"

The tariffs were based on trade deficits.

the conversation

"Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs have been calculated by taking the US trade deficit with each country, dividing it by total US imports from that country, then halving the resulting ratio and converting it into a percentage.

For example, in 2024, the US imported approximately US$605.8 billion from the European Union, but exported only $370.2 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $235.6 billion.

Dividing the deficit by total imports from the EU gives a ratio of 39%. The White House interpreted this figure as the EU’s trade “advantage” and subsequently imposed a “discounted” 20% tariff on EU products – roughly half of 39%."

So putting a tariff on literally everyone? 

We are paying the higher costs. 

Companies aren't going to let these taxes drive into their profit margins, they're going to extend the costs to us. 

It's a major issue with this kind of taxation scheme. 

"oh no the dollar is getting weaker so now US exports will become even cheaper just like what China does every single year"

Uninhabited islands have resources that can be exported. They might not have humans permanently stationed there but they'll still be visited and owned by a country that is inhabited and governed and levies tariffs.