Why Trumps tariffs may not deliver the American golden age hes promised

Donald Trump almost always has a point — including the bold ones he made on what he dubbed as “Liberation Day” late Wednesday afternoon. On the topical issue of tariffs, for example, Trump was right that targeted, carefully considered import taxes can be a powerful bargaining chip.Especially when levied by the United States, the most economically invaluable market in the world — a market other countries can’t afford to lose access to.Moreover, there are plenty of policy causes the president could reasonably enlist tariffs to advance.

Russia must be made to pay for its criminal expansionism.Mexico must do more to stop the flow of people and fentanyl into the U.S.  China must be forced to abandon all manner of malicious practices – plus, America should be functionally independent of its chief geopolitical competitor in important sectors, such as pharmaceuticals. Even the most ardent free traders can see value in the U.S.

responding in kind when governments implement protectionist policies that make it harder for American goods to be sold abroad.That Israel dropped its tariffs on US products in anticipation of “Liberation Day” is evidence enough that there’s merit to these tit-for-tat strategies.Trump has articulated all of these fine ideas before.Unfortunately, the program he unveiled in the Rose Garden this week failed to deliver such a thoughtful vision.

Instead, the president announced the imposition of sweeping tariffs on much of the globe that he has inaccurately characterized as being “reciprocal.”They’re anything but. As countless economists, business leaders, and other experts have observed, the rates at which Trump has proposed taxing imports are, in most cases, far higher than those at which most other countries are taxing American exports.In fact, the formula used by the White House to supposedly calculate the “tariffs charged to the U.S.A., including currency manipulation and trade barriers” is completely nonsensical.Rat...