Wall Street Journal slams Trump's tariff plans: 'The dumbest trade war in history'

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published a punchy Saturday op-ed listing all the failed reasons for President Trump’s tariff plan, citing a declining trend in trade and manufacturing culpability following signed sanctions. 

Trump on Saturday imposed significant tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, fueling a potential trade war.

“Tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China are SIGNED!” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields posted on X. “This bold move holds these countries accountable for stopping illegal immigration and the flow of dangerous drugs like fentanyl.”

“Leaving China aside, Mr. Trump’s justification for this economic assault on the neighbors makes no sense,” the board wrote. 

Writers challenged the idea that exorbitant pricing for imports and exports would urge neighboring governments to stem the flow of illicit drugs.

“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says they’ve ‘enabled illegal drugs to pour into America. But drugs have flowed into the U.S. for decades, and will continue to do so as long as Americans keep using them,” read the Wall Street Journal op-ed. 

“Neither country can stop it.”

The board denied the notion that increasing the cost of business deals between borders would lead to a fulfilling economy. 

“Mr. Trump sometimes sounds as if the U.S. shouldn’t import anything at all, that America can be a perfectly closed economy making everything at home. This is called autarky, and it isn’t the world we live in, or one that we should want to live in, as Mr. Trump may soon find out,” they outlined. 

“Take the U.S. auto industry, which is really a North American industry because supply chains in the three countries are highly integrated. In 2024 Canada supplied almost 13% of U.S. imports of auto parts and Mexico nearly 42%. Industry experts say a vehicle made on the continent goes back and forth across borders a half dozen times or more, as companies source components and add value in the most cost-effective ways,” they added.

“And everyone benefits.”

The board alleged that the car industry, farm goods and oil would suffer from the president’s new policies. 

“None of this is supposed to happen under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and signed in his first term. The U.S. willingness to ignore its treaty obligations, even with friends, won’t make other countries eager to do deals,” they wrote. 

“Maybe Mr. Trump will claim victory and pull back if he wins some token concessions. But if a North American trade war persists, it will qualify as one of the dumbest in history.”