Donald Trump, a man who campaigned on protectionist rhetoric, says he can finagle better trade agreements for the United States. But judging from his rhetoric, writes David Harsanyi, it seems the president believes protectionism is preferable to deals that lower barriers for all parties. His public position on trade—one of his only enduring political positions—is that jobs and industries can be saved by using tariffs.
Take Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, who recently laid out his basic concerns in a recent New York Times piece: “First, trade must be not only free but also fair and reciprocal.”
“Fair trade,” once used predominately by progressives, is a neologism without meaning. It allows a person to oppose complex agreements for a litany of reasons. The word “fair” is elastic and ambiguous, Harsanyi notes, which is why it’s so popular with adolescents.
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