How do you get him ? <| sep |> No man . Do some homework <| sep |> Does this really benefit us ? Milton Friedman often used the example of Utah banana farmers as an analogy . You could slap tariffs on bananas high enough that it is profitable for farmers to grow bananas in hot houses in Utah . But would you say this really makes any sense from an economic perspective ? Best case scenario you have what the US steel industry has . an entire industry propped up by artificial demand that is noncompetitive outside of the protective boundaries the government has set for it . Arguing hypothetically , you ' d have to look at it on a case by case basis and be pragmatic . If an industry employs a 500 , 000 workers and requires a 10 % subsidy to stay compettiive , that ' s completely different than an industry that has 100 workers and requires a 50 % subsidy to stay competitive . Also , regarding steel specifically , some tariffs can be employed selectively against certain countries to protect against product dumping , which is exactly what china has been accused of doing , selling steel at below market value to drive the local industries out of business , so they will be limited to only buying chinese steel in the future . In this way , tariffs can be used to protect against unfair trade practices .