On almost no other issue has President Trump’s public position been more consistent than the subject of trade. The president has been making claims about the failure of free trade for more than 30 years, including bludgeoning it while running for president. Many conservative politicians and business leaders gritted their teeth and ignored Trump’s protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail, hoping he would moderate his views once in office. That notion was disabused when he withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a promising trade agreement between Pacific nations, as one of his first initial acts.

But there are recent signs that free traders are ready to stand up to the administration’s protectionist impulses.