Trump, the Steel Tariff, and Real Free Trade

by Rod D. Martin
March 2, 2018

I am a free trader, one of those rare free traders willing to admit that (1) none of our "free trade" agreements constitute actual free trade, (2) all of them could be greatly improved, and (3) our trade partners frequently cheat us and get away with it.

Real free trade means an absence of trade barriers, such as is the case when trading between Florida and Georgia. Nothing we have externally gets vaguely close, so all of it is subject to scrutiny and all of it is at best a matter of degree. That includes trade deals I support.

In any case, I say all that as preface to this: my default position is to oppose the President's announced tariffs; but on the other hand, I'd like to know more about how they fit into his bigger picture. And moreover, I suspect rather strongly that a man who has business interests around the world is not looking to start a trade war, but is rather trying to get America a better deal. It's against his own personal interest (not to men…