Trump’s Tariffs Aim a Wrecking Ball at Economy of the Americas (3)

Donald Trump’s move to invoke an emergency and impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is the most extensive act of protectionism taken by a US president in almost a century. In what may be the biggest geopolitical and economic consequence, it swings a wrecking ball through the regional compact at the foundation of US global competitiveness and economic power.

US firms for decades benefited from the economic alliance between the US, Canada and Mexico, which established highly integrated supply chains that exploit a rare and enviable combination: US innovation, Canadian resource wealth and low-cost labor in Mexico.

That came at a ...