WSJ - Trump's trade policies were LOSERS

Jobs fled America as taxpayers paid more for goods.

After criticizing the trade policies that Donald Trump is proposing if he lands a second term and then handing the former president space to respond, the Wall Street Journal editorial board fired back with a brutal fact check late Wednesday night.

As the editors wrote, Trump's assertion that his policies were a "success' don't match up with reality and the editors have the graphs to prove it.

As they wrote, "The goods trade deficit with China did dip somewhat after Mr. Trump launched his global tariff campaign in 2018. At the same time, however, the deficits with Mexico and the rest of the world went up."

Case in point, they note, "Since 2017, when Mr. Trump entered the Oval Office, goods imports to the U.S. in nominal dollars have increased 174% from Vietnam, 116% from Taiwan, 96% from Bangladesh, 89% from Thailand, 76% from India, and 62% from South Korea. Maybe Mr. Trump should start giving out campaign hats that say 'Make Vietnam Great Again.'"

As the editors noted, Trump had a chance to make real inroads on a positive trade policy but he rejected it out of hand.

"If Mr. Trump’s goal was to nudge businesses to friendlier locales, a better U.S. policy was to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that excluded China. But Mr. Trump rejected that deal," they wrote, "This approach would have avoided the collateral damage from Mr. Trump’s blunderbuss tariffs, and here we part ways with him again."

As for Trump's new proposal to slap a 10 percent tariff on competing countries, the editors wrote, "Slapping 10% tariffs on everything made by Vietnam, South Korea and other U.S. partners would have the effect of abandoning them to China’s economic sphere, which is the opposite of America’s geostrategic interests."

"Mr. Trump’s great mistake is his belief that trade is a zero-sum exercise. But countries and companies trade because they see a mutual advantage. When American consumers buy clothing and Scotch on a global market, while American producers sell soybeans and Boeing jets, the magic is that both sides benefit," they concluded.