To the Editor:

“Mr. Trump’s Empty Words on Trade” (editorial, March 12) asserts that President Trump’s announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports “should worry everyone concerned about a trade war or the health of the steel and aluminum industries.”

Yes, we all understand the “free trade” orthodoxy that a country benefits from having no tariffs even if its trading partner imposes tariffs on imports into its own country. But it is equally true that both countries benefit even more if neither country imposes tariffs.

Economic theory does not teach how to persuade your trading partner to lower or eliminate its own tariffs. That is the art of diplomacy and negotiation, and President Trump, to his credit, appears to recognize that trade policy is one of the tools in his chest to achieve desired ends in trade and other international relations.

After decades of ballooning United States trade deficits under a free trade regime, maybe we should give the president a chance to experiment with his fair trade policy before questioning its — and his — wisdom.