Trump Is Making Trade Less Fair
U.S. policies toward China, South Korea and Mexico distort the role of the market.
The great unleveller.
Photographer: Steve Bronstein/PDI Red/Via Getty Images
From the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he has said he wants to make trade “fair.” For too long, he argued, American companies and workers suffered as trading partners used tactics that stole jobs, damaged U.S. industry and widened deficits. The implication was that he’d work to strip away the remaining tariffs and other hurdles that tilted the playing field.
Now we’ve seen Trump’s policy in action, it turns out he’s doing the opposite. There’s a hypocrisy at the core of his administration’s approach. Rather than knocking down state-imposed barriers, he’s pressuring governments to intervene to achieve specific outcomes — for the most part, protecting or aiding specific U.S. industries and companies. The result isn’t freer trade, but more unfair trade.