Category: Washington

  China’s plan to levy a 25 percent tariff on imports of U.S. soybeans may come as something of a surprise to most Americans. But to a professor of agricultural economics who studies international commodity markets for a living, this was not at all unexpected. Even before the conclusion of the 2016 presidential race, trade … Continue reading Why China’s soybean tariffs matter

  I explained last month that the World Trade Organization’s dispute-resolution mechanism is the best way of discouraging China from short-sighted mercantilist and cronyist trade policies. The Trump Administration, though, thinks that the best response to bad Chinese trade policy is to adopt bad American trade policy. In this interview, I fret that tit-for-tax protectionism is bad, and might even … Continue reading Trump’s Failing Grade on Trade Threatens His Overall GPA on Economic Policy

  President Donald Trump seems to be on a tariff-setting tear in recent weeks. It all began on March 8, when the president finally followed through on an almost year-old threat to restrict imports of foreign steel. The administration slapped a 25 percent tariff on the metal, while also putting a 10 percent duty on … Continue reading George W. Bush tried steel tariffs. It didn’t work

  A bilateral trade war appears to be in full swing. China and the U.S. are trading targeted tariffs on each others’ goods. Threats of retaliation by key U.S. allies like Canada and the European Union prompted President Donald Trump to exempt a large group of countries from the steel and aluminum duties it announced … Continue reading Trade wars are good’? 3 past conflicts tell a very different story