Cheaper Coffee and Tomatoes Won't Fix the Inflation Problem

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump rolled out a carpet bombing approach to global trade: Tariff every country and every product, and don’t worry about collateral damage. The administration launched the policy under the auspices of a “national security” emergency, but it cast a net so wide that it encompassed coffee, Christmas toys and running shoes. What could go wrong?

Now, you’ll be shocked to learn, Trump has been forced to revisit his original strategy — but only after he realized that Republicans were starting to pay a political price for his recklessness. In an order Friday, Trump cut tariffs on agricultural products such as beef, tomatoes and the aforementioned java beans. Predictably, the move came shortly after an election that showed Democrats handily beating Republicans in gubernatorial elections that revolved, in part, around voters’ affordability concerns.