President Donald Trump’s tariff diplomacy has been a shock treatment to the global economic order, intended as a kind of radiation and chemotherapy to kill the cancer that created the Rust Belt. But overdoing the treatment can kill the patient instead, without removing the carcinogens in the economy. Fortunately, the administration’s negotiators have called a truce, and we can reevaluate the treatment’s effectiveness.
The last five weeks have seen tremendous market turmoil, and not just domestically. The chaos that ensued after April 2 extended around the globe and has forced many nations to the negotiating table with the U.S.—and that includes countries that engage in unfair trade practices. In that sense, the tariffs have been successful.
The Trump administration’s play here is to use tariffs as a tool of statecraft to force other nations into reducing…
