Donald Trump loves walls and he loves tariffs, which are walls of another kind – barriers to open trade. In his mind, walling off the outside world is the key to making America great again.
From this warped perspective, his decision last week to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports makes perfect sense. But it has provoked strenuous objections from Republican and business leaders and most economists, not to mention U.S. allies and trading partners.
All this political blowback looks like a gift to Democrats, but there’s a hitch: The party doesn’t know its own mind on trade. Polls show sizeable majorities of rank and file Democrats favor free trade. But the national party’s message is dominated by a militantly anti-trade faction led by organized labor, Rustbelt politicians and left-wing populists. This group, in fact, seems to be offering the only praise for Trump’s tariffs.
Continue reading at The Daily Beast.