Trump does not understand trade.

But he is effective at imposing bad trade policy, as captured by this tweet.

And why did Trump impose that bad trade policy?

Because he mistakenly thinks trade deficits are bad.

So have his big trade taxes lowered the trade deficit? As captured by our next tweet, just the opposite.

Trump also imposes protectionism because he wants to promote manufacturing and protect blue-collar jobs.

How’s that working out? Not so well, as shown by the following tweet.

So why have Trump’s trade taxes backfired?

As our final tweet shows, Trump does not realize that a majority of goods imported to America are intermediate products used by American manufacturers.

The bottom line is that we shouldn’t be surprised that Trump’s policy has failed. Protectionism didn’t work for Herbert Hoover. It hasn’t worked by any nation.