Such is the ludicrous ‘logic’ of Trumpian trade policy.
Editor, Wall Street Journal
1211 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10036Editor:
Ed Gresser rightly ridicules the Trump administration’s ridiculous assertion that a country violates the rules of trade whenever that country produces more of any particular good than the citizens of that country purchase for their own consumption (“The ‘Overproduction’ Excuse for Trump’s Tariffs,” May 11). Such allegedly ‘excess’ production, of course, is the norm in trade for countries just as it is with firms. Yet according to Trumpian reasoning, the Ford Motor Company unfairly restricts the commerce of General Motors by producing more automobiles than Ford workers and shareholders purchase – and GM inflicts an equal unfairness on Ford! The government must prevent such injustice!
The logical implication of this Trumpian case for protectionism is that no individual should produce anything beyond what he or she personally uses. In such an ‘economy,’ every person, as a producer, would never be threatened by the excess production of other producers. But as a consumer, each person would be unimaginably destitute.
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
