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The brilliant Sheldon Richman adds his voice to those who oppose Trump’s punitive taxes on Americans who buy the likes of steel, aluminum, washing machines, and solar panels.  A slice:

Individuals, not nations, trade. Remind yourself of this truism and many fallacies melt away. I have no conflict of interest with Chinese or Canadian steelmakers or other foreign producers. On the contrary, we have a harmony of interests.

Mona Charen is wholly unimpressed with Trump’s ignorance about trade and his obsession with steel.  A slice:

Trump justifies this crony capitalist move by reference to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which grants the president the authority to impose tariffs in cases involving national security. This is transparent bad faith. We get two-thirds of our steel from domestic producers. Among the nations from whom we buy the rest, adversaries like China (2.2 percent) and Russia (8.7 percent) contribute trivial amounts. Our biggest suppliers are Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico. Moreover, Trump has also suggested that the steel tariffs could be dropped in exchange for concessions in NAFTA negotiations, proving that the national security argument is disingenuous.

Larry Elder is justifiably disturbed by Trump’s ignorance of the economics of trade.

GMU Econ alum Mark Perry documents the positive correlation, over the past half-century, between the U.S trade deficit and U.S. household net worth.

My intrepid Mercatus Center colleague Veronique de Rugy is dismayed that Uncle Sam continues to ignore looming fiscal problems.

George Will wonders what the U.S. military is still doing, after 6,000 days, in Afghanistan.

Here’s my GMU Econ colleague Bryan Caplan taking on someone who 20 years ago I assumed was never to be seen again: someone making a case for socialism.

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