President Obama's decision to implement a 35 per cent tariff on Chinese tyres is predictably being branded as all sorts of lovely things--especially by the infinitesimally small number of workers who might benefit in the short term from the tariff.  Yet the reality is that Obama's first deliberate ruling on trade as U.S. President sets a terrible precedent for American trade policy over the next four years--and invites a wave of sweeping retaliatory trade barriers against American exports in the days, weeks, months, and even years to follow.  These retaliations are not just a threat for the distant future: the Chinese have already promised action against US exports, just hours after Obama's announcement.

The message for domestic policy in the United States could not be more backward either: Obama has just announced to the American public that vested interests and lobbyists will be valued above consumers.  The full implications of Obama's decision--why this specific decision was so important, the importance of open trade in tires, the implications of tariffs on consumer safety--are expertly outlined in this excellent briefing paper, timed to release on the day of Obama's tyre tariff ruling, by Daniel Ikenson at the Cato Institute.

Obama's campaign slogan of "Change We Can Believe In" inspired millions to vote for him.   "Change" in this case meant more of Bush's big government coupled with self-defeating trade restrictions.