, Columnist
The Real Danger of Trump’s Incoherent Trade Policy
Tariffs won't fund the president's priorities, and they endanger the flow of foreign capital on which government borrowing depends.
The US can’t thrive in isolation.
Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
This week we learned that the reason it’s hard to define the goal of the Trump administration’s trade policy is because there really isn’t a coherent goal. Is it about reducing the US trade deficit? Is it about raising revenue to pay for an extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that expires later this year? Is it about gaining diplomatic leverage in other negotiations such as border security?
Whatever the policy objective is, it’s unlikely to benefit either US debt and deficits or the bond market.