Don’t Make a Dumb Trade War Any Dumber
Large-scale imports of semiconductors may pose some national security risks. Tariffs aren’t the way to deal with them.
Tariff target.
Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
It’s Christmas in July for trade hawks. Each day seems to bring more ill-conceived and capricious new tariffs from the White House. Sweeping import duties on semiconductors and chipmaking equipment may well be next. Any members of Congress who care about maintaining America’s competitive edge should be striving to ensure they aren’t.
In April, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Commerce Department launched probes into whether imports of chip technology, as well as pharmaceuticals and ingredients, posed undue risks to national security. According to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, results could be announced as soon as the end of the month. Tariffs are one available remedy, whether to support domestic chipmakers or to punish other countries for allegedly unfair trade practices. The duties may be especially tempting to the administration as they are likelier to withstand legal scrutiny than some of its more arbitrary decrees.