DU economy experts: please explain why trump and his sycophants... [View all]

Commerce Sec'y Howard Lutnick was on cable this morning blathering how much money was flowing into the US Treasury from tariff deals made with S. Korea, Japan, the UK and other countries. Of course Lutnick knows that's not true and has to say such things to keep his job. Apparently trump somehow still believes that foreign exporting companies pay tariffs. Many others know that importers pay the tariffs and eventually recoup their costs by passing on the expense to us customers by raised prices, thus inflation.

GM right now is eating some one billion in tariff costs so as not raise their car prices but that won't last forever.

My big question iis why impose tariffs on countries in the European Union with approximately equal back and forth trade, why have any tarlff at all? TSF has recently set it at 15%. 15% minus 15% equals nothing, right?