Tariffs were very strong American worker wage protection, HENCE corporations hate tariffs.

[pampango]

31. The VAT is not a tariff. The VAT effects the final cost of imports and domestic products equally.

As such it does not penalize imports. A tariff only applies to imports and makes them more expensive than domestically produced goods.

If the VAT really were a tariff of 19-25%, German imports would not be 37.5% of their economy while in the US - with negligible tariffs - imports are only 13.8% of our economy.

That said if you believe that a 19-25% VAT would be a good thing for the US to adopt that is something we could discuss. It would raise the cost of everything imported and everything produced and consumed here, so there would be some pain involved, but it might be a good funding source for our safety net - as it is in Europe.

Canada does not have 'high tariffs' on Chinese imports. The article you quoted deals with the change in Canadian tariffs that apply to China due to Canada no longer considering China to be a poor country. Canada, like the US, the EU and most developed countries, have special low tariffs for imports from really poor countries in principle to make their exports more attractive and promote economic development. In the article you cited, Canada was changing China's status from a poor country to a developed country with the same low, but not as low, tariffs it applies to all developed countries.

Looks like those nations follow the "FDR model" of protective tariffs much more than you're willing to admit.

Of course, FDR never raised a tariff and geared to postwar trading system to avoid them.