Why are Democrats pulling their punches on Trump’s disastrous trade war?

These tariffs, just not those tariffs. This has been the mealymouthed critique of President Donald Trump’s trade wars from many Democrats this past week. They awkwardly triangulate between bashing Trump’s catastrophic ideas and touting support for their own similarly spirited, if scaled-down, ideas.

No wonder their message is falling flat. Trump’s current tariff regime — including “only” 10 percent levies on 70 countries, plus 145 percent on China — will devastate the U.S.



economy. His tariffs imposed so far are estimated to raise a typical household’s annual costs by $2,700 , with lower-income Americans shouldering the biggest burden. That’s only a subset of the damage.

Recession risks have surged, companies have begun furloughing workers , and our once-close allies are flipping us the bird ..