On Sunday we reported that “Trump’s trade war is hitting the agricultural Midwest hard as farmers in eight of the top ten soybean producing states that voted for Trump are going to be looking at bankruptcy as they are already being hurt by Trump’s trade war with China.”
We also said that Trump’s trade war was a “ticking time bomb” that was set to go off very soon once his ridiculous tariffs go into effect.
And now the venerable conservative newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, has demolished Trump in a new editorial lambasting the president’s decisions to impose 19th century trade restrictions on the global economy of the 21st century.
According to the Journal, Trump is killing the jobs of the people he had promised to protect. They also issued a warning to Republicans, saying that Trump will cause them to “take a beating at the polls in November.”
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
“Donald Trump’s trade war has been an abstraction for most Americans so far, but the retaliation has now begun in earnest and the casualties are starting to mount,” the editorial said.
After U.S. manufacturer Harley-Davidson announced they are moving jobs to Europe the Journal said that American workers are the biggest losers under Trump’s policies:
“President’s beloved stock market took another header Monday on news of more restrictions on investment into the U.S., and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now down for 2018. But the biggest losers Monday were the American workers who make Harley-Davidson motorcycles whose jobs will soon be headed overseas thanks to the Trump tariffs.”
Trump last year commended Harley-Davidson for “building things in America,” and called the company “a true American icon, one of the greats.” But according to the Journal, Trump is not creating new jobs, but is driving them away:
“Harley hasn’t provided details about how its American workforce will be affected. But Harley employs more than a thousand unionized U.S. steelworkers—the very folks the President claims he’s protecting. Harley’s main manufacturing facilities are in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and Mr. Trump has said the ‘big league’ support of Harley employees helped him win the swing states in 2016.”
“The only response White House press secretary Sarah Sanders could muster on Monday to the Harley news is that ‘the European Union is trying to punish U.S. workers by engaging in unfair trade practices. But the Harley harm is made in America—that is, the White House.”
In a horrific response yesterday Trump said Trump said Harley Davidson is just using his destructive trade policies as an “excuse” to move some of their production overseas. On Twitter he wrote:
“Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag. I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U., which has hurt us badly on trade, down $151 Billion. Taxes just a Harley excuse – be patient!”
The editorial also said that farmers in key swing states were going to be hurt: “Mr. Trump is also going to have some explaining to do to Wisconsin cranberry farmers, Florida orange-juice producers, and Iowa soy and corn growers,” they wrote.
And the scorching editorial ended with this warning to the GOP: “Good luck to Republicans running on the Trump tariffs in November.”
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
