The New York Times Editorial Staff - Trade Wars: Tariffs in the 21st Century

DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

From left: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the G-7 summit meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, June 8, 2018. Trump has found himself isolated on the global stage for taking actions viewed by Americas closest allies as destructive and even illegal.

The United States has imposed tariffs throughout its history but has also participated in many free trade agreements and groups, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), the South Korea and U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

When Donald J. Trump campaigned for president in 2016, one of his campaign promises revolved around helping American manufacturing jobs by renegotiating trade agreements and possibly placing tariffs on goods from other countries. Many Americans found his platform appealing because they felt that too many American factories and their jobs were being lost to foreign competition, particularly from places such as China, which could produce goods much more cheaply than the United States. Trump promised to impose tariffs on goods made in China and Mexico, whose products compete with those made in America, even though experts felt that imposing tariffs would violate international trade rules and also possibly spawn a trade war. He also said he was considering leaving the TPP and Nafta.

In early 2018, President Trump began levying tariffs on goods from countries such as China, Mexico and even Canada. The backlash from other countries has been strong, and even in the U.S. government, there are fears that these tariffs will actually hurt American businesses and consumers and may also start a trade war. To explore the issue of trade, tariffs and trade wars, it is necessary to look at some of the presidents actions that have led to this point. It is also helpful to consider how his Make America Great Again slogan and economic protectionism have forced other countries to respond and how those responses may have affected the economies of both the United States and its partners, its relationship with its allies and the world economy. In an economy that is now global, with every country connected to others in a web of trade agreements and tariffs, what the United States does will undeniably have global repercussions.

As President Trump began to address the issue of trade and tariffs and put into motion his campaign promises about protecting American jobs and companies, it created a storm of opinions about the possible and probable repercussions of enacting tariffs and withdrawing from established trade agreements. Economists warned of the effects on American industries, but President Trump continued with his plan to correct what he considered to be unfair practices against the United States by its trading partners.

BY ANA SWANSON | JAN. , 2018

Washington The Trump administration will soon face several major trade decisions that will determine whether the White House adopts the type of protectionist barriers that President Trump campaigned on but that were largely absent during his first year in office.

So far, the presidents actions on trade have been more moderate than his campaign speeches suggested. Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from a Pacific Rim trade pact and opened other, existing trade deals to renegotiations. But he has yet to impose any of the broad tariffs that he has argued are necessary to give American companies a fair shot in a global economy.

In 2018, Mr. Trump will have several opportunities to punish foreign rivals as the final decider in a series of unusual trade cases that were initiated last year. These cases, which were brought under little-used provisions of trade laws, give the president broad authority to impose sweeping tariffs or quotas on foreign products.