By the Toledo Tribune
There are times in a nation’s life when the flag flies higher—not because someone raised it, but because the wind changed. You can feel that wind now, coming off the prairies, rolling through the mill towns, slipping down from the hills where old barns lean into the future. It’s the sound of America getting back to work—and of the world finally listening.
This country has always made things. Not just things you hold, but things you believe in: a tractor that’ll run forever if you treat her right. A hammer your grandfather used. A steer raised on land that’s been in the family since Lincoln’s time. These things aren’t just products. They’re promises.
So when the White House announced new tariffs—meant to demand fairness in trade—it wasn’t a shot across the bow. It was a stand. A line drawn for the folks who kept showing up long after the jobs left town. For the factory hand who watched his plant packed into shipping containers and sent overseas. For the rancher who raised prime beef only to see it blocked by red tape while lesser meat took the spotlight abroad.
Tom Conway of the United Steelworkers said what many have felt for years:
“We’ve watched for decades as our workers were asked to compete with slave wages, zero environmental standards, and subsidized dumping. This isn’t protectionism—it’s patriotism.”
That word—patriotism—has been worn thin by slogans and cable news. But in the hands of people like Conway, it gets its strength back. It means getting up before dawn to earn your place at the table. It means building a thing right, even when no one’s watching.
And the world is starting to notice.
Ethan Lane of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association saw it too:
“President Trump is taking action to address numerous trade barriers that prevent consumers overseas from enjoying high-quality, wholesome American beef.”
That’s not policy-speak. That’s a cowboy saying, “It’s about time.”
In grain elevators across the Plains, orders from South America are climbing. Wheat is flowing not just downriver, but overseas. And in Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania, there’s a new hum in the air—the sound of lathes spinning, welders sparking, and machines that had been quiet far too long roaring back to life.
Dan DiMicco of the Coalition for a Prosperous America put it plainly:
“We don’t want special treatment. We just want a level field. And when we get it, we dominate.”
Because this country doesn’t ask for a head start. It asks for a fair start. And when it gets it, it doesn’t whine—it wins.
This isn’t just about trade policy. It’s about dignity. About a mother clocking in at the cannery to give her kids a shot. About a welder who puts his name in the bead because he knows his work will outlive him. It’s about believing in something more than profit: believing in place, in people, in a country that still knows how to build.
As Ethan Lane said—quietly, firmly, like someone who’s saddled up in the dark and seen the sunrise:
“When the playing field is fair, we don’t just compete—we win.”
And Lord help the world when we do.
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