Adam Smith/Source: Wikicommons Guest post by Drieu Godefridi In a world where the global economy bristles with grievances, lamentations and threats, the U.S. tariffs against China arouse anger and incomprehension. Labeled as retrograde protectionism, these tariffs – of up to 145% – are nonetheless defensible in the light of Adam Smith, titan of liberal thought. Far from caricatures, Smith, in The Wealth of Nations (1776), was no zealot of unilateral free trade. His nuances, rooted in pragmatism, offer a surprising reading grid for understanding Republican politics. China closed Let’s start by setting the scene. The United States, in imposing these tariffs, aims to rebalance a Sino-American trade relationship that it deems iniquitous: an abysmal trade deficit ($400 billion in 2018, before the first tariffs), systematic…
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