Real dangers loom with Trump's incoherent trade policy

Last 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 U.S. 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 U.S. debt and deficits or the bond market.

Here’s what President Trump wrote in a social media post as he prepared to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada at midnight last Tuesday: “MAKE YOUR PRODUCT IN THE USA AND THERE ARE NO TARIFFS! Why should the United States lose TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SUBSIDIZING OTHER COUNTRIES. …”

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-real-dangers-loom-with-trumps-incoherent-trade-policy/