Outside voices: ‘Galloping protectionism’ and portentous possibilities

The U.S. shift to a “protectionist” trade policy, “a dramatic reversal of nearly a century of American leadership in expanding economic freedom through trade liberalization,” could be a harbinger of greater restrictions in the future, according to the Cato Institute’s Clark Packard. “The decline in Americans’ freedom to trade internationally is troublesome enough, but perhaps more distressingly, it could also herald further infringements of economic freedom,” writes Packard , research fellow for trade policy studies at the free-market think tank...