The following statements are, I believe, demonstrably true:
- The EU’s tariffs on American goods are, on the whole, roughly the same as American tariffs on EU products;
- American trade deficits with EU countries are due, not to disparities in tariffs, but to other economic factors–most notably, differences in savings rates; and
- One of the few consistent and genuine (albeit extremely stupid) ideas Trump has espoused throughout the years is the notion that countries with large trade surpluses with America got them by stealing our money.
Some commentators and members of the administration are taking the position that Trump is using thuggish, but justifiable tactics to advance a radical free trade agenda with the EU. If my premises are true, completely free trade will not in any way eliminate trade deficits and thereby accomplish Trump’s ultimate objective of returning ill-gotten wealth to the US. As a result, I can only conclude that the argument about Trump being a free trader is false, and that his objective must really be managed trade, not free trade.