Stop Freaking Out. Trump’s Tariffs Can Still Work.

Last week’s “Liberation Day” marked a kind of D-Day in the effort to reorder the international economic system. That reordering is desperately needed to address the system’s imbalances, which have led to deindustrialization and annual trillion-dollar trade deficits for the United States. But remember, far from striking World War II’s decisive blow, D-Day was just the start of the European campaign. Eleven months of vicious fighting followed, with more than 100,000 Americans killed before victory was secured. With the tariffs, too, success or failure depends on what happens next, and the nation will have to bear real costs while the outcome hangs in the balance.

The breadth, speed and severity of President Trump’s actions, which he finalized only shortly before the Rose Garden announcement, sparked immediate panic across markets and among allies. The airwaves filled with dire predictions as people scrutinized the sources and sizes of the numbers, the strategy and even the legal authority. Amid the hysteria, fair concerns have also emerged about what the plan lacks: time for companies and governments to respond, permanence for those tariffs intended to shift investments and a clear vision of the goals and how to reach them. But there are simple steps the administration could take now to correct course and move from its embattled beachhead into a sustainable forward position.

The 10 percent global tariff — a foundational permanent policy, which has already taken effect, and which carries a tolerable cost — is the right starting point. Congress should vote it into law as soon as possible. That would confirm its permanence and also provide substantial tax revenue that could help Capitol Hill solve some of its budget math problems. A bill to this effect, the Built USA Act (which I have championed), was introduced in January by Representative Jared Golden, a conservative Democrat.