tariffs only work as long as countries are importing goods into the us. if our tariffs become too high, no one will try to import into the us anymore and then the government gets no revenue. i don't know why we can't just use a tiered taxation system so each individual only gets taxed once. basically, the way it would work is that you, the individual would only get taxed by your local government. then your local government gets taxed by the state. then the state gets taxed by the federal government. that way all levels of government are still getting their money, but the individual is only getting their pocket picked once instead of getting it picked by all levels of government like it is under the current system.
United States