I support the basic idea behind Trump's tariffs on China, however they struck me as an incomplete solution. The consumer ultimately pays the difference for imported goods, but since there aren't many alternatives, the result is that consumers often just pay more for the same products, meaning China's economy is largely unaffected.

Now suppose the US government were to subsidize an American-made smartphone manufacturer, specifically fixing the market prices to make American-made phones cheaper (note I'm only using smartphones as an example; this could be done with any major Chinese export.) The funds it would take to get an American phone manufacturer off the ground would be astronomical (mainly because we don't have any right now,) but the end result would be more substantial. What are your thoughts on this?

• Do you think subsidizing American-made products would be a good idea? Why or why not?

• If you oppose this idea, do you have an alternate long-term strategy for reducing America's dependency on Chinese imports?

• Would such heavy subsidization feel like socialism to you? If so, is there an inherent difference between tariffs and subsidies given that both involve the government directly intervening with the market?

• How would you feel about blue collar factory jobs returning to America? In general, what do you think is the ideal American economy (service, agrarian, industrial, etc.)?