The Week: ‘Liberation Day’ Do-Over

• This week’s joke is paused for 90 days.

• President Trump wants a “liberation day” do-over. After the stock market tanked and Treasury yields rose in response to his “reciprocal” tariff plan that was supposed to fundamentally alter international trade forever, Trump announced a 90-day pause and said there would instead be a 10 percent tariff on goods from all countries, except 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and 145 percent on China. This is still bad policy. There’s no reason Americans should be paying more to import from Canada and Mexico than from other countries, and the Chinese rate amounts to a sudden near-embargo. National security justifies some restrictions, yes, but the bulk of Chinese imports are everyday goods that don’t threaten the country. The 10 percent minimum is likely not high enough to change production patterns but is still a major tax increase on Americans when Republicans should be focused on extending the 2017 tax cuts and reducing the cost of living. None of the basic facts of economics and trade will be any different 90 days from now. As long as the “liberation day” executive order remains in place and Peter Navarro remains employed by the White House, expect us to have to rehash all of this in early July.

About the Author

NR Editors

NR Editors includes members of the editorial staff of our magazine and website.

• This week’s joke is paused for 90 days.

• President Trump wants a “liberation day” do-over. After the stock market tanked and Treasury yields rose in response to his “reciprocal” tariff plan that was supposed to fundamentally alter international trade forever, Trump announced a 90-day pause and said there would instead be a 10 percent tariff on goods from all countries, except 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and 145 percent on China. This is still bad policy. There’s no reason Americans should be paying more to import from Canada and Mexico than from other countries, and the Chinese rate amounts to a sudden near-embargo. National security justifies some restrictions, yes, but the bulk of Chinese imports are everyday goods that don’t threaten the country. The 10 percent minimum is likely not high enough to change production patterns but is still a major tax increase on Americans when Republicans should be focused on extending the 2017 tax cuts and reducing the cost of living. None of the basic facts of economics and trade will be any different 90 days from now. As long as the “liberation day” executive order remains in place and Peter Navarro remains employed by the White House, expect us to have to rehash all of this in early July.