In an interview with Gunther Fehlinger, I was asked about Trump’s protectionist policies. Understandably, I was not overflowing with praise.

Let’s now look at some economic data.

Two weeks ago, I wrote a column entitled “By His Own Standard, Trump’s Trade Agenda Is a Failure.”

To summarize, I pointed out that Trump thinks trade deficits are terrible and I then showed that trade deficits increased in both 2025 and during his first term following the imposition of protectionist policies.

For the record, I don’t think trade deficits matter, but it was amusing to hoist Trump on his own petard.

Today, let’s look at an economic variable that does matter.

Here’s a chart shared by Marc Short. As you can see, ever since Trump imposed big tax increases on global trade, job numbers have gotten worse.

But what about manufacturing jobs? Was Trump at least able to protect America’s industrial base, which is a reason why some people defend Trump’s protectionism?

Here’s another chart, this one shared by Mark Perry. As you can see, manufacturing jobs have fallen ever since Trump launched his protectionist jihad.

I suppose it is possible that these job numbers (both overall and for manufacturing) are just statistical blips. But we’re approaching one year of data, not just one or two months.

And since the academic evidence shows that protectionism is misguided (the only debate is over the extent of the damage), I think we can begin to draw some obvious conclusions.