I have to admit, I find our hot takes on tariffs to be at the very least inconsistent. On the one hand, we say they are an indirect tax on domestic consumers, but on the other hand, we are worried about retaliatory tariffs by other countries - wouldn't they just be indirect taxes on their own consumers that don't hurt us?
Maybe tariffs don't only hurt domestic consumers. Maybe they also hurt foreign producers. And therefore help domestic producers. Maybe the purpose of the tariffs is something entirely different than what we are led to believe.