Are Republicans Still the Party of Free Trade?

Politico reportersrecently sat down with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and asked his opinion about the future of the world trading system and what might be going on in President Trump ’s head with regard to the increasing recourse to tariffs as a policy tool. Here’s what he said:Grassley on Trump: “He believes in tariffs as a tool to get a negotiation as opposed to being an end in themselves. Then he hasn’t changed anything. If he has used tariffs because he believes they’re good, and I know he says that, but I don’t believe he actually believes that. I don’t see how he could believ e it.”“[H]e hasn’t changed the Republican Party. We’re still a party of free trade … I surely hope that he has learned from history that lower tariffs are good.” The first claim, that Trump is using tariffs as a negotiating tactic, was generally accepted when he first started applying tariffs. For example, the imposition of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum in the name of national security were thought to be temporary, or at least, countries could negotiate exemptions. Korea, for instance, agreed tosteel quotas as part of the renegotiated Korea-U.S. Trade Agreement (KORUS). Brazil and Argentina agreed to quotas as well. Australia is theonly country that has secured a full exemption from both tariffs and quotas. Canada and Mexico were led to believe tariffs would be lifted at the conclusion of negotiations of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), but even a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs