The Wall Street Journal editorial board, a traditionally conservative economic voice long critical of President Donald Trump’s trade protectionism, offered rare praise this week for a developing trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.
While modest in scope, the board sees the deal as a potential off-ramp from the administration’s broader and economically damaging trade war. Though the editorial does not shy away from criticizing Trump’s overall trade record, it views the UK deal as a positive step toward de-escalation.
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“It appears the deal won’t reduce Britain’s health-and-safety standards for American beef, which has long been U.S. ranchers’ main sticking point. Also left out is Britain’s ban on imports of American chicken that’s been disinfected in a chlorine wash, despite the lack of any health risks,” the board wrote.
Despite those limitations, the Journal emphasized the larger implications. “The details here matter less at the current moment than the direction of U.S. trade policy, as the buoyant market response recognizes. A month ago, the world looked to be on the edge of a potential 1930s-style trade meltdown.”
For months, the editorial board has warned that Trump’s trade policies — marked by tariffs and isolationist rhetoric — threaten to destabilize the U.S. economy. However, the UK agreement, though limited, signals a shift the board welcomes.
“What matters,” they continued, “is that Trump is promising many more trade deals to come, as he tries to execute a retreat from his tariff morass.” That statement acknowledges both the hope for broader liberalization and the challenge of steering Trump away from his longstanding belief in tariffs.
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“Mr. Trump and his protectionist chorus will say this was the plan all along, as if a flight from the dollar and U.S. equities and a surge in bond yields were anticipated,” the board wrote pointedly. “The President likes tariffs for their own sake, which is why he made his April 2 announcement.
However, the looming economic damage has proven to be too risky to be politically sustainable. If Republicans want to pretend this retreat is genius at work, fine with us as long as the damage is reduced.” While the board maintains that the U.S. economy continues to suffer under current trade restrictions, it offered a glimmer of optimism.
“The British deal offers a template for a partial face-saving exit, if Mr. Trump will take it,” the editorial concluded, underscoring a desire for policy correction over political pride.
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