GPS Fareed Zakaria
Big, Beautiful Tariffs
2025 • E52 Dec 28, 2025 50m
This special explores Trump’s historic increase in US import duties, which have pushed America to its highest aggregate tariff rate since the Great Depression.
What kind of results can we expect? Fareed looks for lessons in history, tracing US tariffs from the 1800s onward and noting some of the pitfalls. Tariffs can foster crony capitalism, Fareed points out—and in illiberal regimes around the world, they’ve long been part of the autocrat’s playbook.
What kind of results can we expect? Fareed looks for lessons in history, tracing US tariffs from the 1800s onward and noting some of the pitfalls. Tariffs can foster crony capitalism, Fareed points out—and in illiberal regimes around the world, they’ve long been part of the autocrat’s playbook.