Tariffs aren’t dead

This essay is a part of The Right Way Forward, Restoring America’s new think tank debate series in which leading conservative institutions argue the defining questions of the post-Trump era. Read about the series here.

For decades, conservative economic orthodoxy has treated free trade as an unquestioned good — an article of faith rather than a policy choice. In theory, free trade promises efficiency, lower prices, and shared prosperity. But in practice, the global trading system has never been truly free, and American workers have too often paid the price for pretending otherwise.

Tariffs aren’t dead. They remain one of the most effective tools available to policymakers to advance three core national interests: economic security, revenue generation, and negotiating leverage. Used strategically, tariffs are not a rejection of markets — they are a recognition that markets must be structured to serve the national interest.

The traditional conservative argument for free trade assumes