The illogic of Trumpian protectionism is Everestian.
Editor:
Ed Gresser masterfully exposes many of the economic fallacies that the Trump administration trots out to justify its punitive taxation of Americans’ purchases of imports (“The ‘Overproduction’ Excuse for Trump’s Tariffs,” May 11). But these fallacies are so numerous that not all of them can be elaborated on in the space allowed.
An example is the inconsistency of the administration’s complaint, on the one hand, that foreign countries produce too many goods that are then exported to the U.S., and on the other hand, that foreign countries have too much industrial capacity that is unused.
If, as the administration believes, Americans’ economic fortunes are damaged by foreigners producing excessively and then offering to sell that ‘excess’ production to us, why does it complain that foreigners are producing less than their production capacity allows? According to the administration’s own logic, foreign producers’ failure to more fully use their capacity should be cause for celebration rather than criticism.
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
