'Liberation Day,' One Year Later

A year ago Thursday, President Trump raised the average effective tariff rate to 22.5%, and proclaimed April 2 "Liberation Day," which would "forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn." Financial markets convulsed. Within a week, the president began suspending and modifying his tariffs. By the time the Supreme Court ruled that tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were unlawful, the average effective rate had fallen to 11.6%, still higher than at any point between World War II and Liberation Day. Convinced that his tariffs were "quickly building the greatest economy in the history of the world," Mr. Trump responded by invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a 10% across-the-board tariff, that he promises to raise to 15%. A year into this experiment, how is Mr. Trump's tariff policy working out?