Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal.
Editor:
Mark Penn and Andrew Stein advise Pres. Trump to “cut taxes and red tape to stimulate business investment, lower energy prices by cutting regulations, use tariffs to get the U.S. better trade terms, stoke innovation and investment in artificial intelligence, and reduce waste in government, especially needless energy subsidies and welfare fraud” (“Trump’s Economic Struggle, and Clinton’s,” December 30).
All good advice except for the bit about tariffs.
On its face, getting “the U.S. better trade terms” is unobjectionable. Who doesn’t want better terms? The trouble is that what Mr. Trump and his fellow protectionists regard as better trade terms are, in fact, worse trade terms. The president, foolishly obsessed with U.S. trade deficits, wants to use tariffs to increase American exports and decrease American imports – that is, he wants to arrange for Americans to give to foreigners more and to receive from foreigners less. This change in trade terms would indeed be better – but better for foreigners and worse for us Americans.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux< Professor of Economics and Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22030
