The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board on Thursday hit Republican nominee Donald Trump’s major economic speech this week, saying that he’s trying to make the GOP into the “Tariff Party.”
Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania this week carried a theme he has hammered throughout his campaign, arguing that international trade deals have hurt American workers and that the U.S. is being taken advantage of by foreign countries with unfair labor laws.
He proposed higher taxes on foreign goods and said that any cost increases would be offset by job creation in the U.S.
“So he’s doubling down on a strategy to win white working-class voters who have been told for years by Democrats that trade is to blame for their declining economic fortunes,” said the Journal, which promotes free trade. “We’ll find out soon enough if this works politically, but as economics it’s nonsense.”
The paper credited Trump with also proposing decreases in business regulation and lowering domestic taxes but said his trade policies would hurt the economy.
“Americans are frustrated by slow economic and wage growth, but the first obligation of political leaders is not to deceive them with false remedies,” the Journal said. “Mr. Trump’s tariff remedy would face furious foreign opposition, and it would probably end in tears if he imposed it.”
