Warren Buffett, the famed investor, warned more than 20 years ago about the folly of American free trade policy. “Our country has been behaving like an extraordinarily rich family that possesses an immense farm,” he wrote. “We have, day by day, been both selling pieces of the farm and increasing the mortgage on what we still own.”

The problem is our trade deficit, which measures the difference between what we produce and sell to the rest of the world, and what the rest of the world produces and sells to us. If free trade worked, we might import lots of goods from other countries and export just as much back. Our factories would make less of some things and more of others. But that’s not what has happened.

Instead, while we now buy goods from countries like China — often goods that Maine factories used to produce — our factories never got the chance to manufacture something else. They just closed down. Our trade deficit each year is $1 trillion, representing an enormous gap between the much larger amount of stuff we consume and the much smaller amount of stuff we produce. We make up the difference by buying on credit and selling out our future to enjoy cheap goods today.

Most economists see nothing wrong with this. They have long promoted the idea that low prices for consumer goods are more important than whether American workers have any role in producing them. And they got what they wanted. According to one estimate, Maine has lost over 30,000 manufacturing jobs since the United States embraced free trade in the 1990s.

Maine has experienced the consequences, which go far beyond the factories themselves. When factories close, and nothing opens in their place, entire communities collapse. Workers lose good jobs that support families and find that the ones still available pay far less. Skills and expertise vanish as one generation retires and the next finds that it no longer has the same opportunities.

Congressman Jared Golden is one of the few leaders in Washington who clearly understands this reality and wants to do something about it. He has introduced important new legislation to reset American trade policy and correct the imbalances plaguing the economy and harming workers.

The BUILT USA Act imposes a tariff of 10% on all imported goods entering the U.S. market. This legislation would give American-made goods an advantage over those made abroad, helping American manufacturers succeed and grow and encouraging more investment in new domestic production. Foreign companies that manufacture overseas and sell to American consumers will be incentivized to set up their factories in the United States.

Critics say that imposing a tariff on imports will cause prices for American consumers to skyrocket like they did during the Biden administration. But the basic math says otherwise. Even large tariffs have small effects on what consumers end up paying, as we saw when President Trump imposed tariffs on imports from China during his first term. American families come out ahead if they also lead to better jobs at higher wages.

In addition, a global tariff would raise significant revenue for the government, likely hundreds of billions of dollars each year. With this new revenue, the government can cut other consumer taxes, reduce budget deficits or make new investments that reduce the costs of American-made goods. For instance, tariff revenue can rebuild our roads, bridges and energy grid; support research and innovation at American companies; help construct new facilities in critical industries like mineral processing and computer chip fabrication; or provide workforce development and apprenticeship programs to train the next generation of American workers.

Tariffs alone will not rebuild American industry. We also need sound tax, energy, regulatory and financial policies to achieve their full promise and reap their full rewards. But the first step is to stop cheap imports from undermining domestic manufacturers. Congressman Golden’s proposal would help reverse decades of chronic trade deficits, put greater emphasis on production instead of just consumption and lay the foundation for states like Maine to flourish.