Some of Mr. Trump’s more ardent supporters say that because he won the election, and in the campaign regularly brought up his intent to have more tariffs, this gives him a mandate for his trade war. As I’ve said repeatedly, his mandate–such as it was–was to 1) stop the open borders, 2) get prices down, and 3) stop progressive cultural craziness. Not much more. And since tariff’s increase prices not decrease, he’s actually going against his mandate, however much he may have campaigned on it.

But here is the most important proof that he has no mandate for tariffs. Every day American consumers buy foreign made products when they have domestic alternatives (e.g., foreign made steel). That is proof positive that those people and firms value the ability to purchase foreign made goods more highly than the domestic alternative. Every day democratic capitalism allows people to vote for their preferred policy by their spending decisions, and the preferred policy overwhelmingly is in favor of free trade. That is true even when they buy American, as the point is that the decision locus is in the hands of the people not the state. When Donald Trump or Joe Biden (who kept most of Trump I tariffs) tax us through tariffs to “encourage” us to buy American, they are taking the decision effectively out of our hands, and putting it in the hands of the state. This is not freedom, it is the Road to Serfdom.

The longer Mr. Trump considers this unwise policy, the larger the damage that will be done. And the more you and I will pay in the end. Independent of his tariffs, markets are already focusing on a massive shift away from the U.S., making us poorer.