“This is because before tariffs became associated with President Trump, previous American leaders laid the groundwork for today’s America First policies,” Navarro continued. “Their philosophies adhered to three fundamental principles: sovereignty, security, and the safeguarding of American workers. Economic nationalism, or economic populism, harks back to the effective economic framework that established the world’s strongest industrial nation.”

Navarro continued to explain how Alexander Hamilton was the “original architect of American economic nationalism.”

Navarro further elaborated, “Hamilton clearly addressed in his report on manufactures that tariffs were necessary for shielding America’s budding industries from British influence and achieving genuine independence—both politically and economically. He understood that depending on foreign entities for goods would leave America perpetually susceptible.”

“Decades later, Henry Clay carried Hamilton’s vision forward,” Navarro continued. “His American system prioritized three things: a strong national bank, major infrastructure investment, and above all, protective tariffs. Clay said it best in 1824, ‘The tariff is to tax the produce of foreign industry with the view of promoting American industry.’”

“It’s the same logic President Trump used nearly 200 years later when he invoked Section 232 to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum to stop foreign overproduction and dumping from crushing American jobs,” Navarro continued.

Navarro continued on to explain how former President Abraham Lincoln “understood the value of tariffs.”