Trump Can't Have It Both Ways

There is a contradiction at the heart of Trumpism’s embrace of protectionism and restrictionism. President Donald Trump often portrays international trade less as a non-zero-sum form of cooperation and more as a battle to the death, in which wily foreigners have for years been winning at the expense of ordinary Americans, thanks in large part to the treacherousness of U.S. elites. His call for steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is very much in keeping with his mercantilist instincts. At the same time, the president advocates more stringent limits on low-skill immigration.

You might think these policies complement each other. And as a matter of cultural sensibilities, there’s no denying that they tend to go together. The trouble is that offshoring is essential to making