, Columnist
Trump’s Tariffs Are Likely to Outlast Him
To a nation staggering under debt, tariff revenue may come to look like a less politically painful fix than higher income taxes and limits on Social Security payments.
Tariffs may look like a nice umbrella in a fiscal storm.
Photographer: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images
Effective opposition to President Donald Trump’s trade policies has yet to pop its head above the parapet. Old-school pro-trade types are sidelined — consoling themselves, perhaps, that the protectionist turn will reverse once the costs are clearer. Be patient, we tell ourselves: This, too, shall pass.
Will it? I don’t doubt that the policies will fail. By itself, however, that won’t restore the pre-Trump era.