Trump’s new protectionist age

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump unveiled his new “liberation day" tariffs on Wednesday, and they are another large step toward a new old era of trade protectionism. Assuming the policy sticks—and we hope it doesn’t—the effort amounts to an attempt to remake the U.S.

economy and the world trading system. All details aren’t clear as we write this, but Mr. Trump’s tariffs look “reciprocal" in name only.

First he’s hitting every nation in the world with a 10% “baseline" tariff to sell in the U.S. market. For those he calls “bad actors," he’s adding up the country’s tariff rate on U.S.

goods, plus an arbitrary estimate of the cost of its “currency manipulation" and non-tariff barriers. He then takes that total number and applies half of that in tariffs on the country’s exports to the U.S. He’s hitting China with a 34% tariff, but our Japanese friends will pay nearly as much at 24%.

The European Union gets whacked with 20%, India with 24%. We’ll assess the details further in coming days, but for today let’s consider some of the consequences already emerging in this new protectionist age: • New economic risks and uncertainty. The overall economic impact of Mr.

Trump’s tariff barrage is unknowable—not least because we don’t know how countries will react. If countries try to negotiate with the U.S. to reduce tariffs, the damage could be milder.

But if the response is widespread retaliation, the result could be shrinking world trade and slower growth, recession, or worse. There will certainly be higher costs for American consumers and businesses. Tariffs are taxes, and when you tax something you get less of it.

Car prices will rise by thousands of dollars, including those made in America. Mr. Trump is making a