Oren Cass Spots a Contradiction Among Free Traders

But there isn't one.

Oren Cass, chief economist at American Compass, tweeted (or is it “Xed?”):

Fun quirk of the free-trade talking points is that tariffs are counterproductive and you pay them yourself…but also don’t impose them because you’ll face retaliatory tariffs that you’ll have to pay.

Cass seems to think that there’s a contradiction. There isn’t.