Tariffs, Trade, and Machiavelli

Trump is right to say that trade needs a reset. But his response so far has amounted to a chaotic blitz of tariff declarations, suspensions, and threats.

President Donald J. Trump joins Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, at the start of their bilateral meeting Saturday, June 29, 2019, at the G20 Japan Summit in Osaka, Japan. | Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

Tariffs are neither inherently good nor bad. They are tools. And with any tool, their utility depends upon how …