Turning the Tables on Tariffs

The chattering class is wedded to a view of Trump as the most blinkered of protectionists, who is just itching to foment trade wars. That’s why the media completely ignored his call to eliminate tariffs altogether, which he proposed at the G-7 meetings in Quebec. That cut too much against the media’s narrative. “We should at least consider no tariffs, no barriers — scrapping all of it,” Trump said.

One might have thought free-trade advocates would thrill to such an abolitionist vision. But, of course, they didn’t, because underneath all their opportunistic bluster about protectionism lies a globalism that protects the tariffs of America’s competitors.

As Stephen Moore notes, “It speaks volumes about the trade debate that none of the foreign leaders, except perhaps Germany’s Angela Merkel, had any interest. If the offer were made to China, the mercantilist leaders would be thrown off their high horse never to recover. These nations are more interested in bashing Trump as a trade warrior while retaining their own indefensible protectionist trade barriers.”

Moore urges Trump to continue his zero-tariff push, to “seize the high ground in the trade debate by offering it up again and again as America’s desired endgame.” After all, Moore argues, “Zero tariffs would be the ultimate victory for totally free and fair trade. It would advantage the United States most because we already impose the lowest trade barriers. It would also expose many of Trump’s severest critics as free-trade frauds. President Trump: You should do this, because the worst that could happen is our allies take you up on the offer.”

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