EDITORIAL — Trump tariffs pose threat to U.S., too
Published 11:00 am Tuesday, May 14, 2019
President Trump’s continuing reliance on tariffs and threats of trade wars rattles friends and rivals alike. At least his latest thrust against China does not represent a direct attack on an ally but instead a political rival. It’s not always that way.
Trump has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum against Canada, Mexico and the European Union. In some cases, builders and investors say such tariffs are making it tougher for domestic construction projects to progress because of a shortage of necessary materials.
And by the way: There’s a lot of construction that might be imperiled around Southeast Texas.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a conference call with Texas reporters last week that he and other Republicans recently urged the president to back off on his tariffs against our closest neighbors, who are strong trade partners and, by the way, our friends. That was sound advice and we wish the president would take it. Trade with Mexico is most important to Texas.
“The tariffs are hurting agriculture and sending prices up,” Cornyn said. “Tariffs are not good policy in the long run.”
Nor are they good policies in the short run, not if you believe in free markets. Tariffs against washing machines and solar panels in addition to steel and aluminum represent no small chunk of our economy. The U.S., in turn, has been the target of retaliatory tariffs and all of the global ill will that accompanies it.
Further, economists say the end result will be more harm than good for the U.S. How else should we explain a policy — other than madness — that harms farmers, who can’t sell their goods abroad, then mollifies them by borrowing money for their subsidies? Is this country really in a position to borrow any money?
While the president appears to relish a trade war, pushing the country into risk, more stable U.S. leaders, including many Republicans, do not. While the president suggests that the U.S. economy is more stable than China’s, and that we could weather a trade war just fine, his words suggest a level of acceptance of government interference into private enterprise that is philosophically worrisome and counter to conservative policies.
Trade wars result in collateral damages to some innocent victims, just like real wars. Retaliation against the U.S. usually adversely affects someone on this side, and might well include hard-working, innovative people who may sustain genuine setbacks not through their fault but through Washington’s hubris.
Losses that U.S. companies sustain are not the president’s to risk, not ethically. The subsidies he’d promise those who suffer, such as the farmers, are not his to give either; they belong to the taxpayers.
We have met the enemy, Pogo told us — too often, us.