AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
President Donald Trump’s White House released a statement raging at the Wall Street Journal for slamming the tariffs newly-placed on Canada and Mexico.
On Saturday, Trump fired off his first tariffs against Mexico and Canada with a 25% border tax. Meanwhile, China received a 10% tariff on all energy products along with an additional 10% on all imports from China.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board penned an article calling the tariffs “the dumbest trade war in history” while slamming the president for the “economic assault on the neighbors.”
“None of this is supposed to happen under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and signed in his first term,” the board wrote. “The U.S. willingness to ignore its treaty obligations, even with friends, won’t make other countries eager to do deals. Maybe Mr. Trump will claim victory and pull back if he wins some token concessions. But if a North American trade war persists, it will qualify as one of the dumbest in history.
The White House responded on Sunday by accusing the editorial page of supporting “America Last policies” including “open borders” and “outsourcing” jobs.
“The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board’s latest tirade against President Donald Trump’s decisive action to stop fentanyl from killing innocent Americans is a helpful remember that the WSJ is always wrong when it comes to tariffs and trade,” The White House wrote in a statement. “The Journal’s editorial page has supported America Last policies such as open borders and outsourcing for years now.”
The statement went on to cite op-eds over the last two decades that showed the Journal supporting NAFTA and the World Trade Organization.
In a 1991 commentary article entitled “Mexican Reveille,” the Journal attacked opponents of NAFTA as “protectionists” and “anti-growth zealots.” Between NAFTA’s implementation in 1994 and 2014, the U.S. auto sector lost 348,000 jobs. One study found that just through 2002, the NAFTA deal “caused the displacement of production that supported 879,280 U.S. jobs.” In a 2000 column entitled “Clinton Gives A Pass To ‘Globaphobia,’” Wall Street Journal editorial board editor Robert Bartley wrote that NAFTA was one of Bill Clinton’s “true accomplishments.”In 1999, the Wall Street Journal claimed that China’s ascendance into the World Trade Association was “worth celebrating.” China’s entrance into the WTO and
its permanent normal trade status caused the U.S. to lose 3.7 million jobs, according to one study.In 2001, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board editor Robert Bartley wrote that the Wall Street Journal “supports” the “vision” of “open borders for not only goods and investment but also people.” Bartley noted in his column that in 1984, the Wall Street Journal editorial page suggested a “constitutional amendment: ‘There shall be open borders.’” We just witnessed what open borders looks like during the previous administration. Open borders means illegal immigrant gangs taking over apartment buildings and a flood of terrorists.In 2018, the Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that President Trump made “the biggest policy blunder of his presidency” by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum. A 2024 study on the effects of President Trump’s tariffs in his first administration found that they “strengthened the U.S. economy,” and “led to significant reshoring” in industries like manufacturing and steel production.