Pete Buttigieg is a rising star in the Democratic party, and he certainly stood out from the crowd during Thursday night’s presidential debate. In a field containing several socialists and trade restrictionists such as Bernie Sanders, Buttigieg took a stand for free trade.

.@PeteButtigieg: Tariffs aren’t going to change China’s economic model … Manufacturers and especially soy farmers are hurting. Tariffs are taxes... — Agri-Pulse Communications (@agripulse) June 28, 2019

Buttigieg was asked about the best way to deal with the threat posed by China, and while he largely demurred, he was quick to point out that President Trump’s trade war is entirely counterproductive. The mayor said that “tariffs are taxes” on the American people, and he’s exactly right.

Trump has slapped hundreds of billions in tariffs on Chinese imports, meant to punish China for their unfair economic practices. In reality, companies are just passing them on to consumers, who bear the brunt of the trade war.

"Manufacturers, and especially soy farmers, are hurting. Tariffs are taxes, and Americans are gonna pay on average $800 more a year because of these tariffs."@PeteButtigieg blasts Trump's reckless trade-war-by-tweet, which is seriously hurting American farmers. #DemDebate2 pic.twitter.com/gvs4ztu3ds — CAP Action 🏳️‍🌈 (@CAPAction) June 28, 2019

According to CNBC:

An expanding body of research shows that the burden of Washington’s tariffs has mostly fallen on the U.S., with American importers and consumers having to fork out more money to buy Chinese goods. ... Research firm Oxford Economics said in a May report that, if the U.S. and China impose elevated tariffs on all goods they trade, the American economy in 2020 is estimated to grow by 0.5 percentage points less than a no-tariff scenario.

So, while Pete Buttigieg might be a disaster on issues such as "Medicare for all" and a mediocre mayor, at least he gets trade policy right. That’s more than we can say about President Trump.