'Knew it was coming': Wall Street Journal bashes Trump's 'self-destructive tariff folly'

President Donald Trump's attempts to renegotiate America's trade deals have become a "self-destructive tariff folly," according to the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board.

In a new op-ed published on Sunday, the editorial board argued that reports of a $10 billion bailout for America's soybean farmers reveal that Trump's tariff policy is not working as the president says it is. Trump's tariff policy towards China has caused the country to stop buying American soybeans. The move significantly disrupted America's soybean industry because China was one of America's largest soybean customers.

"You knew it was coming," the editors wrote. "As President Trump’s tariffs damage farmers and businesses across the U.S., the victims are besieging the Administration for relief. The long lines at the Commerce and Agriculture departments are the latest proof of self-destructive tariff folly."

Trump has repeatedly said his tariff policy would generate a windfall of revenue for the federal government. The editors pushed back on that claim.

"The looming bailout is a refutation of the claim that tariffs are cost-free," the editorial continued. "They aren’t if, like soybean growers, you are the target of retaliation. Mr. Trump likes to say that tariffs are a windfall for the Treasury, but not if much of that revenue is going back out the door in subsidies to offset the tariff harm."

"The farm fiasco underscores another truth about tariffs, which is that they expand what Mr. Trump used to call 'the swamp,'" it added. "Industries and individual companies hit by tariffs are flocking to Washington to lobby for relief. The Beltway bandits on K Street have never had it so good."

Read the entire op-ed by clicking here.