Wall Street Journal Warns Trump Against Repeating Trade Policy Mistakes

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Alex Jane
February 11, 2025
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8 minutes read

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The conservative editorial board of The Wall Street Journal has issued a stark warning to President Donald Trump: avoid the same disastrous trade policies that plagued your first term. Trump’s latest move—a proposed 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports—has drawn sharp criticism from economists and business leaders, who fear a repeat of the economic fallout seen during his previous administration.

In 2018, Trump imposed similar tariffs, citing national security concerns. The Journal’s editorial board argues that those measures hurt more American workers than they helped. “In March 2018, Mr. Trump announced 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum under the pretext of protecting national security.

Then, as now, most U.S. metal imports came from allies including Canada, Mexico, Europe, South Korea, and Japan,” the board wrote. At the time, Trump claimed the tariffs would bolster domestic steel production. However, The Wall Street Journal noted that production was already on the rise due to deregulation and the 2017 tax reforms.

“U.S. production was already increasing amid a surge in capital investment unleashed by his deregulation and 2017 tax reform. U.S. steel capacity utilization climbed to 78.5% in March 2018 from 72.4% in December 2016,” the board pointed out.

Rather than protecting jobs, the tariffs ended up costing thousands of workers their livelihoods. The board highlighted the example of Mid-Continent Steel and Wire, a company responsible for producing nearly half of the nails made in the U.S.

Former President Donald Trump is leading the race to be the Republican candidate in the 2024 election [File: Andrew Harnik/AP Photo]

“Sales plunged by more than half after tariffs were enacted, and it laid off 80 workers. Another 120 quit, fearing its Missouri factory might shutter,” the board wrote. The Commerce Department later granted the company a tariff exemption, but the damage was already done.

The auto industry was another major casualty. “Automakers were another casualty. Ford Motor said tariffs subtracted $750 million from its bottom line in 2018, which reduced profit-sharing bonuses for each of its workers by $750. GM said the tariffs dented its profits by some $1 billion, equal to the pay of more than 10,000 employees,” the board wrote.

The Journal warned that Trump’s latest tariff proposal is even more extreme and will likely produce similar, if not worse, economic consequences. “This is political rent-seeking at its most brazen, and it benefits the few at the expense of the many,” the board concluded. “None of this matters to Mr. Trump, whose dogmatic views on tariffs can’t be turned by evidence.

But we thought our readers would like to know the rest of the story.” As Trump pushes forward with his trade agenda, the warning from The Wall Street Journal suggests he may once again face backlash from businesses, economists, and even his own party.