The Free Trade Charade

The serious media wonks are horrified that the tRump administration would put tariffs on imported steel!  Not the farcial rollout of what appears to be an off the cuff Trumpian moment, but the actual policy, if it is ever written out and enforced.   America has subsidized world trade for the past 50 years by running major trade deficits with most of the world.  American manufacturing has been hollowed out by the relentless off shoring of jobs and factories.  The buying power of the middle class has declined to the point it won't be able to consume the huge amount of production allotted to it.   The populist rhetoric tRump deployed during the campaign resonated with his base and this is obviously a half hearted attempt to satisfy the MAGA crowd.  However, it is a hare-brained scheme with no firm policy objectives other than to momentarily distract us from the Mueller investigation of Russian meddling in the elections, past, present and future.  Some adjustment of our trade policy is warranted, especially vis-a-vis China, Germany and other countries with huge trade surpluses.   Scattershot, vindictive tariffs which hurt close allies like Canada and Mexico is not the way to do it.