Trade talks with Canada have come to a halt following President Trump’s claim that the country had released a “fake” advertisement showing former President Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.

However, Scott Lincicome and Colin Grabow explain that “efforts to save U.S. jobs through higher tariffs… can find no ‘conservative’ justification in Reagan-era trade actions. In fact, it’s just the opposite.” The Cato trade experts say “The Reagan administration did indeed pursue unilateral import restrictions and foreign-trade “enforcement” actions, but history shows that — unlike protectionist policies proposed by Trump — such moves were intended to liberalize trade in a manner consistent with the economic mainstream.” This includes Reagan’s own US-Canada free trade agreement, the predecessor to NAFTA.

Lincicome adds that President Trump’s strong reaction to a simple commercial — putting billions in bilateral trade at risk — again shows why US trade law needs to be reformed:

“Any tariff law that arguably gives any president such boundless discretion should be amended by Congress or deemed an unconstitutional delegation of Congress’ explicit tariff powers.”

To speak with Lincicome or Grabow on this topic, please feel free to email Cato PR at pr@​cato.​org.