Last year’s trade policy was chaotic. This was largely a result of the president’s random announcements, often on Twitter, that he’d apply tariffs on goods coming into the country. In some cases, the tariffs were meant to negotiate radically different trade deals than the ones we already had, a goal never achieved so far. In other cases, tariff threats were a way to get foreign governments to do things that have nothing to do with trade, such as reducing the number of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border or forcing Brazil and Argentina to somehow keep economic turmoil from causing the value of their currencies to fall. In yet other instances, the president’s announcements seemed to be triggered by some weird need to show that he’s still in control and untamed.
No matter the reasons, this behavior needs to stop in 2020.
David Brooks remembers the late Gertrude Himmelfarb.
Robert Wright sings the praises of the largely unsung market forces that keep our food safe.
Simon Lester makes the case against UK-EU tariffs.
George Will hopes for a return to normalcy in U.S. politics.
