1 week Ago By Post Editorial Board
Mr. President, take “yes” for an answer. On Monday, as the fallout from Liberation Day continued to rile markets, the European Union surrendered.
“We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. That would lower the price of pharmaceuticals, cars and other products that American companies export to the EU. It’s exactly the sort of agreement that would make President Trump’s tariff wars a success — forcing nations to make better deals for our workers.
And if the agreement isn’t perfect, it’s at least a starting point. But is the administration even answering the phone? Trump officials are baffling the markets with contradictory messages. Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggest that these overtures are for naught.
The tariffs are permanent, Lutnick said over the weekend . “This is not a negotiation.” More reassuringly, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicates otherwise.
He boasted that more than 70 countries have approached Washington about making a deal, suggesting that, yes, negotiation is the point. Bessent added that next week he will specifically work with Japan on a new trade agreement. Count Elon Musk as pro-haggling .
He enlisted Milton Friedman — via throwback video — to explain how no country is completely self-sufficient. It is the free market that takes rubber from Malaysia, graphite from South Africa and wood from the United States to create a pencil that is efficient and affordable, Friedman explains. The president, as is his wont, has played both sides of the debate.
Asked if other countries could avoid the tariffs by agreeing to new trade deals, he said, “That depends. The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.
” But later, he went online to insist that tariffs were here to stay. “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE.” And on Monday, he rejected Europe’s offer out of hand.
That’s because Trump sees tariffs as a money-making opportunity as much as a tool to repair trade imbalances. The cash could be used to pay down the national debt, he promises, even (improbably) replace income taxes! But sir, the global economy can’t be changed in a day. The off-shoring of American manufacturing happened over decades, and even if tariffs have their desired effect, it will take years for domestic production to return.
That’s a big “if.” It’s just as likely that blowback from other nations, including China’s tit-for-tat response , hurts American companies abroad, even as imports to the US fall, which won’t much help the federal budget. In the meantime, the stock market will pummel retirees and the cost of consumer goods will continue to rise — adding to the painful inflation of the Biden years.
We’re on Team Let’s Make a Deal. Mr. President, you have the world in a panic.
Get Ursula on the horn, take the “zero-for-zero” as an opening salvo and ask for more. Put your economic team on doing the same for each of the 50 nations begging for relief. Or better, rather than take a blunderbuss to the world’s economy, pick your targets carefully.
China and Vietnam may be fair game, but why hurt allies as much as economic foes or rivals? Why not negotiate a free trade zone with the EU, as Musk suggested over the weekend ? Why instead drive our allies away from US markets and into the arms of those very same competitors who pose America the greatest threat? The most immediate benefit will be what Wall Street craves most — specificity and clarity. Show that there’s an upside that doesn’t require two generations and a tractor trailer of wishful thinking. Second, and most important, you’ve given American workers a win.
And finally, you’ve got a title for your post-term memoir: “Art of the Deal II.”.
