, Columnist
Letting Trump Impose Tit-for-Tat Tariffs Would Be Disastrous
The Reciprocal Trade Act could blow up the free-trade system.
No winners.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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A new bill in Congress would give the president the power to raise thousands of tariffs in the name of free trade. If that sounds to you like a self-defeating proposition, you’re right.
Republican Representative Sean Duffy of Wisconsin has introduced the Reciprocal Trade Act, which President Donald Trump plugged in the State of the Union address. In both men’s view, other countries have been treating us unfairly by charging American exporters higher tariffs on the same goods than we charge their exporters.