Tariff Follies Begin There is playing from strength, like having the leverage of oversized trade deficits, and then there is overplaying one’s hand. Blanket 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for ephemeral reasons fentanyl and immigration, two things Mr. Trump cannot even control in his own country, seems rash. Canada and Mexico will retaliate, and they may even drag out negotiations in a gambit that American consumers can get as irate as government grant recipients were early in the week when the President tried to stall their payments. Using the trade imbalance as leverage to achieve improved terms of trade could be legitimate. The rationale is not only flimsy, but the implementation tomorrow without protection for existing dea...

TAGS – North America, Macroeconomics