Tariffs Need Antitrust Oversight

When governments raise tariffs they reduce foreign competitive pressure, which can let domestic firms raise prices, slow innovation, or consolidate. To avoid protectionism producing de facto monopolies, tariff policy should be intentionally coupled with vigorous antitrust enforcement targeted at sectors where import barriers are highest. — This reframes the tariff debate from a simple trade vs. jobs choice into a paired policy problem—tariffs without antitrust risk concentrating economic and political power domestically.