Trump presidency risks global protectionism

Former President Donald Trump has promised more tariffs if reelected, 60 percent against Chinese goods, 10 percent against products from the rest of the world. These are in addition to the tariffs he imposed during his time in office and presumably on top of some noteworthy tariffs added to by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., including the 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs). China was considered a strategic competitor under the former Trump administration's ; other countries were not. Into this “rest of the world” category fit allies, neighbors, and just innocent bystanders. Why 10 percent? Why all countries? There is no other reasonable explanation than that Trump considers all trade to be “unfair” in some respect, or at least disadvantageous. This isn’t normally the way presidents act when it comes to tariffs. Additional tariffs are generally imposed very selectively, under trade remedy statutes crafted by Congress. They are actions taken pursuant to a finding that a particular product is involved in a specified unfair trade act, or it may be that the new tariff is a surgical retaliatory measure to open a market for a specified American product. Many uncertainties surround Trump’s proposals. We don’t know why 10 percent was chosen or why it would remain at 10 percent once imposed, but we do take Trump at his word on tariff matters—think about his fulfilling his pledge on day one of his time in office to withdraw the United States from the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) negotiated by President Barack Obama with Asia Pacific countries. He also already applied tariffs at a level of his choosing, first to steel and aluminum imports, and then to most imports from China, which netted out to , a third of what he is promising now.