NPR

Can A Reagan-Era Policy Offer An Alternative To Tariffs?

In the 1980s, America's automakers were suffering as new competition came in from Japan. The U.S. response could serve as an example for the Trump administration in its ongoing trade battles.

It was 1981.

A new Republican president with a background in the entertainment business was trying to jump-start the U.S. economy out of a brutal recession.

The president pushed tax cuts.

Then his administration had to come up with a plan to deal with trade. America's auto industry was suffering, as new competition came in from Japan.

What the Reagan administration did about it

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