It’s not like you don’t get anything in return from the merchants. Yes, you are part of the local economy. I’m not going to argue with you whether the capitalist society works, because it does, and has improved life to extreme measures. This entire system doesn’t work if money flows to half a globe away.

It’s not just about taxes alone, but the whole infrastructure of local corporations manufacturing and selling goods while creating employment and contributing to the local society. Tariffs alone don’t fix that, and neither do state-funded Chinese importers sweeping the markets.