TAX COLLECTOR FOR THE ETHNO-STATE:

Federal revenue from tariffs in the third quarter increased by more than 33% from the same quarter last year, Treasury Department data shows. And in October -- the first full month in which all tariffs announced to date were in effect -- the monthly collection appears to have doubled from the 2017 level to about $6 billion, according to estimates from daily receipts.

"Family farmers in our district saw reliable markets disrupted by impulsive and unpredictable trade decisions," said Democrat Angie Craig, who unseated Rep. Jason Lewis (R). "I heard a lot of the same things: They want a representative who will listen to the concerns they have about instability stemming from the trade war."

Democratic candidates across the country tried to leverage angst about Trump's trade policies in their campaign pitches to voters. In Senate races, most Democrats who tried running on those sentiments lost. But in House races, such candidates fared much better and may have even helped swing control of the chamber to Democrats, underscoring the mixed political ramifications of one of the administration's key economic policies.

"It's very clear, based on how they lost seats in the Upper Midwest, that declining agricultural markets likely led to the overturning of the GOP majority in the House," said Joe Brusuelas, an economist with RSM, an international accounting firm. "It's hard to imagine that these seats would have flipped anyway."

In March, Trump slapped 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the United States, followed by two separate rounds of tariffs -- one on $50 billion in products and another on $200 billion in products -- on China.

China, Mexico and other foreign governments have retaliated by imposing their own tariffs on U.S. exports, in many instances in areas where they might hurt the president's domestic political fortunes.

They targeted Midwestern farms that export to Chinese markets, Harley-Davidson motor­cycles manufactured in the Rust Belt, and even bourbon produced in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state of Kentucky, among other businesses in Republican-controlled states.

Tweet   @brothersjudd