This Is No Time for Protectionism

The first third of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech proudly repudiated his predecessor’s foreign-policy agenda. Biden denounced aggression, scorned dictators, praised democracy, and saluted allies: item by item, the opposite of Donald Trump’s approach.

Then came a repeated series of promises to legislate “Buy American” into every form of government action and procurement. Trump-style nationalism—repudiated as foreign policy—was rehabilitated as domestic policy.

The architects of the postwar liberal order understood that collective security and free trade buttressed each other. Trump rejected both. Biden last night endorsed one and rejected the other.

“When we use taxpayers’ dollars to rebuild America, we are going to do it by buying American: Buy American products, support