Trump’s insane tariffs are devastating for this critical US industry

President Donald Trump has gone from mocking Canada as “the 51st state” and demoting its prime minister to “governor,” to threatening military invasion of Greenland, to siding with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin over Ukraine’s fight for freedom, to insane tariffs that are making a mockery of international order. 

Trump even said he wants to sell allies nerfed versions of U.S. warplanes. 

“We’d like to tone them down about 10 percent, which probably makes sense because someday maybe they’re not our allies, right,” he said on March 21. 

Just imagine how that was received by U.S. allies. 

In short, the United States is, at best, an unreliable ally and, at worst, a global threat. 

So it makes sense that Europe has decided it won’t depend on the United States as a military backstop for its security, committing nearly $900 billion to its massive military spending spree.

But Europe does want to work with committed allies, so it’s pulling in Japan and South Korea while shunning the United Kingdom and the United States. Makes sense, right? 

The UK left Europe in its ill-fated Brexit gambit (though there is currently work on a new partnership agreement between them), while the United States is literally threatening military action against NATO member Denmark in Trump’s bid to annex Greenland. 

Furthermore, the Trump administration threatened to block the transfer of U.S. parts for F-16s during the president’s hissy fit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It’s standard in weapons contracts for a buyer to get approval to transfer weapons systems to third nations.—no one wants to see their weapons end up in the hands of hostile nations. 

Yet the mere threat is a challenge to Europe’s sovereignty, particularly as the U.S. government has broadcasted that it no longer shares Europe’s values. 

No one is interested in working with a United States that can turn on a dime depending on the whims of idiot voters in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, and the GOP is certainly not interested in preventing crazy despots from flying its banner. 

Which leads to no weapons deals for the United States. And would you believe that Trump is pissed? 

According to Reuters, U.S. officials told European allies that they want them to continue purchasing U.S. arms, despite recent moves by the EU to limit U.S. manufacturers’ participation in weapons tenders.

And in a meeting on March 25, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia that the United States wants to continue participating in EU countries’ defense procurements.

Well, no shit the United States wants to keep participating—but this is the consequence of turning your back on your allies. Trump thinks he can bully the world into submission, but the world has other plans. 

Canada is seeking tighter military cooperation with the EU, while the EU is seeking closer ties with Australia, New Zealand, and India. Meanwhile, the United States is  making kissy faces at a pathetic Russia, now relegated to assault Ukraine with donkeys and golf carts. 

Europe’s justified shunning of the U.S. arms industry is already having consequences. 

According to the Washington Post, a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet manufacturing line in Greenville, South Carolina, services the export market and pumps $1.3 billion into the local economy annually.

Now Greenville County, which Trump handily won in 2024, is bracing for the fallout as U.S. allies call for boycotts against U.S. weapons.

Perhaps nothing foreshadows the economic consequences of Trump’s belligerence better than the state of the U.S. stock market. 

Let’s start with Lockheed Martin, which makes F-16 among other weapons: 

Meanwhile, this is German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall: 

As usual, Trump has an uncanny ability to hurt his own supporters.