‘Tariffs Feed the Swamp’: Wall Street Journal Issues Scathing Editorial Against Trump’s Latest Recipe for ‘Crony Capitalism and Corruption’

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website August 6, 2018:

Trump has somehow given the Wall Street Journal editorial board and Paul Krugman something to agree about.

President Donald Trump’s tariff policy continues to infuriate the usually GOP-friendly writers on the Wall Street Journal editorial board, and the way the scheme is playing out had the board spitting fire Monday in a scathing new denunciation of the administration.

“Tariffs are taxes, which distort investment and limit growth,” the editorial said in the piece. “And like taxes, when tariffs are high they create a political incentive for exemptions and favoritism. Behold the Commerce Department’s new and tortuous process for reviewing exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs. This is everything Republicans typically claim to hate.”

The new review process allows for companies to file for exemptions to the tariffs — which many experts believe is an even worse outcome applying blanket tariffs.

View the complete article here.