Why do some Americans support tariffs, even when it costs them?

[reACTIONary]

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/why-do-some-americans-support-tariffs-even-when-it-costs-them

[The study] builds on past research from Imas and Madarász, who find people derive value from consuming or possessing goods that others want but do not have, a motive they call mimetic dominance-seeking. This behavior, they argue, helps explain numerous market anomalies, from restaurants that intentionally limit their seating capacity to fashion brands that price their sneakers in the thousands.

I just don't get it myself. But then, I would never pay thousands of dollars for a pair of sneakers. Even if I was rolling in billions.

[VBNMW_Realist]

1. Lack of Information And Cultism

There are two reasons for this. First, it seems that many Americans wrongly believe that tariffs are paid for by the country. Many studies have shown this is completely false.

Another perhaps less common reason is that for people who are deeply into the cult of Trump, they think it is a good thing because it is the price of patriotism; in other words, these are patriotic tariffs because they are the only way to get jobs back in this country (which they are failing at).

[OC375]

2. Hurt people, hurt people.

Ever had an eBay laptop sale to Europe go south over VAT? Tried becoming an EU citizen with no ties to the EU? Mad your washer needs replaced every 7 years?

People blame all sorts of stuff on unfair trade. Politico’s talk mumbo jumbo but nothing changes for them.

But… Tariffs. That’s visceral. Deportations. Fair’s fair. You can see that. Someone’s hurting. Hehehe…

That’s how I see it. Hit something. Go to work. Repeat.

[MichMan]

3. Perhaps people whose jobs they worked at for decades making widgets moved to China or Mexico ?

Hard to compete with someone making $5 per hour.

[NewHendoLib]

4. I think that we are just particularly fucked up as a species.