Remove tariffs that backfired and guard against future abuse
What the document says“The next President should ignore special interests and populist ideologues who want government to do the opposite through industrial policy, trade protectionism”
The essay argues that where something has been tried repeatedly and has not worked it should be stopped, and that the proper reform is not only to remove the individual tariffs that backfired but to build institutional safeguards against future abuse. It says rolling back tariffs enacted since 2017 would have a positive effect, while cautioning against overselling trade liberalization as a cure for inflation, which it calls predominantly a monetary phenomenon.
What the document actually says“The next President should ignore special interests and populist ideologues who want government to do the opposite through industrial policy, trade protectionism”
The next president should not listen to those pushing tariffs.
This essay says tariffs have not worked. It says they raise prices at home. It wants them removed and kept off.
This chapter contains the opposing case. 'The Case for Fair Trade', by Peter Navarro, argues the reverse: that trade deficits are a national security problem, that reciprocal tariffs should be used as leverage, and that economic security is national security. Neither essay is presented as the chapter's conclusion.
Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff To Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits
2025-04-02 · 90 FR 15041
The chapter's second essay argues the opposite of this action: that tariffs have backfired, that the reform is to remove those enacted since 2017 and build safeguards against future use, and that the next President should ignore those seeking protection. The chapter contains both positions and resolves neither.
One essay in the chapter argues the other way. It says tariffs have backfired and should be pulled back. This order raises them instead. The chapter holds both views and settles neither.
2 agency rules
- Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Mail Shipments and New Postal Informal Entry ProcessHomeland Security Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection · June 24, 2026
- Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Merchandise Arriving Through All Modes Other Than the International Postal NetworkHomeland Security Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection · June 24, 2026
Each of these names the order above in its own summary, preamble or filing. That is a fact about the document, not a finding that it carries out this proposal: it is one step further away than the order is, and what it does about the proposal is a reading nobody has made here.