Extracting rent can be seen as private taxation. He’s not a “career politician”, so I’m trying to understand how he’d see it from the private realm.
An entry fee, a toll, a tax, a rent - whatever. In the end, the cost will be added to the products going in. It’s not a usual tariff, but the outcome is the same. Maybe he thinks that this trickery helps avoid problems with “free trade” conventions.
One thing that fascinates me is that Trump’s definition of tariffs seems more like the definition of kickbacks.
As he was (is?) a landlord, he may also think of it as seeking rent, like how malls get rent from the stores inside.
Or a tax?
Extracting rent can be seen as private taxation. He’s not a “career politician”, so I’m trying to understand how he’d see it from the private realm.
An entry fee, a toll, a tax, a rent - whatever. In the end, the cost will be added to the products going in. It’s not a usual tariff, but the outcome is the same. Maybe he thinks that this trickery helps avoid problems with “free trade” conventions.