What Makes Trump’s Tariffs Different This Time Around?
What Makes Trump’s Tariffs Different This Time Around?
A guide to the history and future of U.S. protectionism.
Matt Chase illustration for Foreign Policy
U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs have made headlines since the start of his term. His trade policy, which is more aggressive than during his first administration, is already rattling the global trade system. Yet while Trump’s moves are extreme, FP contributors have pointed out that Washington has been embracing protectionism for some time.
As Bob Davis, a veteran economics reporter, wrote last September, the Biden administration actually “confirmed and deepened” the shift toward protectionism that marked Trump’s first term, reflecting a “broader change in the U.S. economic and political thinking.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs have made headlines since the start of his term. His trade policy, which is more aggressive than during his first administration, is already rattling the global trade system. Yet while Trump’s moves are extreme, FP contributors have pointed out that Washington has been embracing protectionism for some time.
As Bob Davis, a veteran economics reporter, wrote last September, the Biden administration actually “confirmed and deepened” the shift toward protectionism that marked Trump’s first term, reflecting a “broader change in the U.S. economic and political thinking.”
Think of this edition of Flash Points as a guide to what Davis calls our era of “neo-protectionism.” Below, you’ll find articles that provide insight into many of your tariff-related questions, as well as the history and future of Trump’s favorite economic tool.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy signs a trade bill at the White House in Washington on Oct. 11, 1962.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
How Washington Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Protectionism
Biden’s embrace of Trump-era tariffs is emblematic of a broader change in U.S. thinking on trade—and toward China, Bob Davis writes.
Tomatoes from Canada are displayed for sale at a Whole Foods store in New York on Feb. 3.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Why Is the President, Not Congress, in Charge of Tariffs?
Presidential dominance over tariff policy was not always the way that things were, Julian E. Zelizer writes.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs trade sanctions against China at the White House in Washington on March 22, 2018.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Everything You Wanted to Know About Trump’s Tariffs but Were Afraid to Ask
“Tariff man” can levy them all right. The real questions are how and why, FP’s Keith Johnson writes.
Foreign Policy illustration/iStock and Getty Images
Trump Has the Whole Global Trade System in His Sights
The U.S. president’s ambitions for “reciprocity” aren’t limited to China, Bob Davis writes.
Commercial trucks cross the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing into the United States in Niagara Falls, Canada, on Feb. 4. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
How Trump’s Tariff Policy Will Shape the World
As FP’s Cameron Abadi and Adam Tooze discuss, China is fighting back, but other countries will struggle to respond.
Chloe Hadavas is a senior editor at Foreign Policy. X: @Hadavas
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