Trump is the Worst Trade Negotiator in a Century

Trump crowed in 2016 the U.S. trade deficit with China was "the largest theft in American history." He was going to stop it. Today the trade deficit is higher than is was in 2016. He was going to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. More are overseas now than before. Trump simply does not have the ability to understand that several parts of trade move simultaneously. 

The simplest way to understand trade is to note the U.S. has laws to stop barriers against any state that might want to set up barriers to trade, like trariffs, with a neighboring state. Way back in the 1787 a group of leaders met as the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Chairing the convention was George Washington. Benjamin Franklin was a member. While the Constitution includes many ideas, Washington's and Madison's original goal was to let the colonies and later states prosper by trading with each other.

That the simple observation different areas produce certain crops and manufactured goods better than other areas has guided Presidents for more than a century. Even Presidents with limited interest in or ability to understand transferred this simple idea to international trade. Nearly all Presidents have championed free trade among nations. They did this, not to be "nice," but in the self interest of the United States. When all nations specialize in what they do best and trade with others all boats rise.

That said, not every person will be better off. Some people will see the job or business they most want leave to another country. Local areas sometimes see their historic industries close. For that reason, resistance to free trade is strongest in the House of Representatives. There is less resistance in the Senate. Presidents, reporting to the entire nation, have supported free trade. That is, until President Trump.

To endorse free trade is to play "the long game." The world economy is never settled. It keeps churning and changing. It takes courage to face down temporary set backs in isolated areas in exchange for later prosperity and higher standards of living.

Hopefully, our country will have Presidents most of the time who can negotiate the long game successfully. A prosperous and productive country can defend itself against enemies better than a poor one.