Previously, I have surveyed Adam Smith’s four exceptions to free trade in Book IV, Chapter 2 of The Wealth of Nations (see my recap here), but at the same time I have left open the $64 question of their application to our contemporary times. Do any of President Trump’s “beautiful” new tariffs, for example, fall into any of Smith’s free-trade exceptions? Alas, this is not an easy question to answer because of the bewildering variety and sheer breadth of protectionist policies that Trump has despotically imposed by decree during the first 10 weeks of his second term. For a good overview of Trump’s “trade despotism” (my term), see this Wikipedia page on Tariffs in the second Trump administration.

For starters, let’s consider the centerpiece of Trump’s new mercantilism: a 10% across-the-board tax on imports from all nations. Recall that last week (2 April 2025), Trump signed a sweeping executive order imposing a minimum 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, including higher tariffs, ranging from 11% to 50%, on imports from 57 nations. For reference, here is the full text of Trump’s executive order. [*] Although there is a good chance this unilateral decree will be declared ultra vires (i.e. beyond the president’s Article II powers) by the courts, in the meantime, however, allow me to play the Devil’s advocate (advocatus diaboli). Brace yourselves, for in my next few posts I will try to pass — nay, ace! — Bryan Caplan’s demanding “ideological Turing test” by considering several arguments that Adam Smith, were he alive today, might have made to defend Trump’s 10% tariff!

[*] Update: President Trump postponed all his country-specific higher tariffs — except for those on China — for 90 days, but the 10% baseline tariff still applies to most goods imported into the United States. My understanding is that the 10% baseline rate was NOT postponed.