Trump’s own goal on trade

An excerpt from an editorial in the New York Times:

Scrambling to soften the blow of his destructive trade wars, President Donald Trump is offering a $12 billion bailout for farmers facing retaliation from trading partners hurt by his tariffs. It’s a desperation move, and it won’t do much to reverse the damage the administration has inflicted by senselessly raising duties on steel, aluminum and other imports from Canada, Mexico, the European Union, China and elsewhere.

Trump’s tariff increases were never needed in the first place. Indeed, the plan to pay off farmers — theoretically, voters in many of the president’s political strongholds — is the latest in a series of incoherent and haphazard economic decisions that the Trump administration has made in recent months, often in an attempt to clean up after it failed to think through the consequences of its earlier actions.

In retaliation for Mr. Trump’s tar- iffs, China, the European Union, Mexico and other countries quite predictably imposed tariffs on soybeans, corn, pork and other products, and so — equally predictably — demand, and therefore prices, dropped for these commodities.

The list of industries seeking help from the government could ultimately end up including much of the American economy if Trump carries out his threats to impose even more tariffs. In recent days he has threatened to impose new tariffs against all $500 billion of imports from China and against European cars.

“Tariffs are the greatest!” Mr. Trump tweeted early Tuesday.

The plan to help farmers reveals instead that trade wars are complicated and difficult. Yes, the American piggy bank is now being robbed — but it’s the president and his aides who are raiding it, to cover up the costs of policies they still show little sign of understanding.