A big part of the tariffs is the implication is that our neighbors aren't doing enough to stop trafficking, drugs, etc. that impacts the US as long as the perpetrators don't cause much trouble along the way. There's no doubt Mexico is guilty of that, although you could argue they're just trying to keep their heads above water. Canada is a different situation, but also presents an opportunity for illicit actors because of so much land and border with relatively few to police it. The US is left asking, and to some degree pressuring, Mexico and Canada to police that. Relying just on stopping it at the border is likely to yield limited results, and obviously there's not a lot US law enforcement can do past our borders.
China is supplying a lot of the raw materials - no question - and I think that's being addressed too, but that's more of a long-term challenge. The previous administration just avoided that confrontation. China has definitely sweetened the pot every way they can with those in power (both parties), making it doubly-difficult to address that problem. I hope to see a reckoning with China that ends our dependence on them without destroying either economy or escalating to military conflict. Personally, I avoid buying Chinese-made goods where possible and intend to continue that as long as their government continues tyrannizing and enslaving their people.
As for tariffs in general, I think it's important to remember that the US federal government largely lived off tariffs for the first half of its life, and I'd argue for a return to that. The idea of free trade with the likes of China should never have been entertained, although it's just as sad that average people didn't stick to their guns and refuse to buy goods produced by Communist slave labor as it is that politicians greased the skids for their own profit. Also, we've never really had free trade with China: they manipulate their currency to make it easier to export than to import goods.
It's true that tariffs are a tax paid by the consumer, except you have to remember that there's the option of not paying it - if or when a domestically-produced is available. Done right, tariffs help protect potentially critical manufacturing bases while also allowing competition. Too little, and you end up with the situation we're in where far too many critical things (like life-saving drugs) are made in China; too much and you stifle mutually beneficial trade and enable domestic profiteering. I believe the ideal path forward is massive cuts to federal bureaucracies and entitlements coupled with the elimination of income taxes in favor of tariffs and other, mostly consumption-based taxes. I'm thinking around 10% for most countries, but much higher for a few. Some people like to get people spun up about prices going up, but if that brings manufacturing and jobs back here, it means more money stays here, so there's more money to be made (and go right to your pocket, if income taxes go down or away). Of course, there is the sticking point that you have to work for it...
