About the author: David R. Breuhan is the vice president of Schwartz & Co. a Michigan investment firm, and the author of Spread The Wealth, More Haves Fewer Have-Nots.

The most important and globally misunderstood aspect of tariffs is their impact on the stock market. History has demonstrated that tariffs can cause immediate market corrections and destroy investor capital. They also backfire on American manufacturers and consumers.

Tariffs may be aimed at foreign companies and governments, but their domestic consequences are often far greater. Advocates for protectionist measures on steel, lumber, electric vehicles, and other products fail to understand that everyone who invests in the stock market has suffered losses because of this policy. It isn’t just the approximately 60% of Americans who directly own stocks, often in their 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts, union pensions and teacher retirement plans will be affected, too. The minor bump in price protection for certain industries is more than wiped out by trillions eviscerated in the market capitalization in the major indexes and the domestic economic dislocation.