The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few

Let's say tariffs cause the price of washing machines to go from $1,000 to $1,100.  We buy about 6 million per year and so it will cost an extra $600 million per year, or about $2 per person per year in the US.  Let's also say, it causes a new plant to open in the US, which makes 1 million units per year and employs 3,000 US workers.  If they make $100 thousand per year, this is $300 million.  So, as a nation, we are $300 million poorer than we were before.  

This is the basic economics argument for free trade.

There's a tired old leftist talking-point, which goes something like, I don't mind paying more tax if it allows the poor to live in dignity.  By dignity, they mean some form of welfare.  Let me rebut their argument with, I don't mind paying an extra $100 every ten or fifteen years, so that an extra 3,000 American workers can have a decent life in the United States.

Real dignity isn't having a roof over your head and plenty to eat.  Real dignity is working and providing a roof and providing plenty to eat.

For my leftist friends.  If it makes you happy, just consider tariffs as a national sales tax on imported goods.  It's a tax, you love taxes!