Labeling Trump’s latest tariffs ‘reckless’

Editors at National Review Online critique one of the president’s latest economic pronouncements.

You may recall that “liberation day” was supposed to be in April, but then the stock market and the dollar tanked, bond yields soared, and President Trump delayed all the tariffs for 90 days. Since then, three federal judges — one appointed by Reagan and one appointed by Trump — unanimously ruled that the “reciprocal” tariffs Trump is imposing under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are illegal.

Now, Trump is imposing the tariffs by sending letters to the leaders of foreign countries. Many of them are at similar rates as those announced in April. He insists these letters are final and the tariffs will be in force on August 1, with no extensions.

The markets’ reaction this time is different: They don’t believe him. Markets have barely budged as Trump announces basically the same destructive tariffs in a different form of communication. The Wall Street mantra “TACO” — Trump Always Chickens Out — seems to be conventional wisdom now.

That doesn’t make the tariffs any less crazy. He is sending these letters to foreign leaders as though they are the ones who pay tariffs. Trump should be sending all of these to the American people, as they are the ones who would bear the burden of these tax hikes.

Remember these tariffs are supposedly about national security and reducing trade deficits. So it’s more than a little odd that Trump’s letter to Brazilian president Lula da Silva begins with a rant about a “witch hunt” against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and imposes 50 percent tariffs on goods from Brazil — a country with which the U.S. has a trade surplus.

The administration has cited a need to counter China’s abusive trade practices, but this is undermined by the 25 percent tariff on Japanese goods. 

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