The Trump Tariff Roller Coaster

He gives a month reprieve to car makers but everyone else loses

WSJ editorial. Excerpt:

"In any case, motor vehicles made up less than 10% of all U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico last year. U.S. consumers and businesses still face a 25% tax on more than $800 billion of goods, including electronics ($98.3 billion), plastics ($22.1 billion), beverages and spirits ($14.6 billion), fruit ($11.3 billion), paper products ($8.4 billion) and more.

The auto exemption also won’t shield Americans from retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t lifting his tariffs on U.S. exports. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has also promised to retaliate, saying Tuesday “there is no reason, justification or excuse that supports this decision that will affect our people and nations.” She’s right.

Mr. Trump originally justified the tariffs under an emergency law to combat the alleged threat of fentanyl. But he claimed Tuesday the tariffs are needed because “we pay subsidies to Canada and to Mexico of hundreds of billions of dollars” and have “very large deficits with both of them.”"