<p>On Thursday, President Trump signaled that he may be preparing to back off his tariff plan after all &#8212; after a week of touting the glories of a possible trade war. Kristen Welker of NBC News reported:</p>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p>A White House official tells me and <a href="https://twitter.com/HallieJackson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HallieJackson</a> the details of any new tariff announcement are still being finalized. If a proclamation is signed it will be largely &#8220;symbolic.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8212; Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) <a href="https://twitter.com/kwelkernbc/status/971740065985593349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></p></blockquote>
</div>
<p>Stephanie Ruhle at MSNBC reported something similar last night:</p>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p>Per an Administration official, I&#8217;m hearing the discussed 3pm tariff signing meeting at <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WhiteHouse</a> is not going to happen (Potus back to being undecided after a day of heavy pushback from republicans)</p>
<p>&#8212; Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) <a href="https://twitter.com/SRuhle/status/971583576650276864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></p></blockquote>
</div>
<p>And according to Mark Knoller at CBS:</p>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p>Conway also not saying if Trump signing steel &amp; aluminum tariffs today. But is meeting at 330pm/ET with steel &amp; aluminum workers to reaffirm commitment to &#8220;&#8220;fair reciprocal trade deals that stop screwing the American worker and American industries.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8212; Mark Knoller (@markknoller) <a href="https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/971757608209182720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></p></blockquote>
</div>
<p>So, is Trump preparing to back off his tough talk after public blowback from so many members of his own party? We can only hope so, given how terrible tariffs are for the economy. Trump was foolish to consider the tariffs in the first place, and he&#8217;d be wise to back off of them now. But if he doesn&#8217;t, Congress should certainly consider removing his trade authority. Trade was never meant to be a presidential prerogative, and there are no national security implications to the decisions Trump was considering on steel and aluminum &#8212; particularly not if Trump was planning to exempt Canada, the top steel importer into the United States.</p>
<p>Trump has a nasty habit of floating trial balloons that have real world impact &#8212; such as a drop in the stock market &#8212; and then walking them back when things go wrong. But better for him to walk back a mistake than continue down the road of 18th-century mercantilism.</p>


Menu

BREAKING: Trump Plans To Back Off Big Steel Tariff Plans

Read Ben’s op-eds for just 99¢