Countries should use tariffs to protect their workers from global competition.

Daily Debate #554: "Countries should use tariffs to protect their workers from global competition.". You are arguing FOR the motion. Your opponent: Bernie Sanders.

Let this start

You're about to defend protectionism by claiming it saves jobs. Wrong. Tariffs destroy more jobs than they protect by raising costs for every business and consumer downstream. Why would sacrificing prosperity for everyone protect anyone at all?

You're framing this as if workers don't matter. A factory worker losing their job to cheap imports isn't "sacrificing prosperity"—they're sacrificing their life. Yes, tariffs raise some prices. But what good is saving a consumer five cents on a shirt if your neighbor can't afford rent because their plant closed? You're asking workers to absorb all the pain so others get cheaper goods.

You're confusing redistribution with destruction. Tariffs don't save that factory worker—they just delay their inevitable retraining while making everyone else poorer, including other workers. That neighbor losing their plant job still can't afford rent if inflation from tariffs eats their remaining wages. You've picked one visible tragedy and ignored the invisible ones: the single mom who can't afford winter coats, the construction worker priced out of tools. Why should five million people suffer to protect one industry? Name the actual retraining plan, not just the tariff.