Tariffs Are Tricky Variables

In “How Much Do Tariffs Matter?” (op-ed, Jan. 29), Donald Luskin claims that tariffs have little effect because he observes little change in inflation rates, gross-domestic-product growth and federal deficits after the introduction of President Trump’s tariffs in 2018.

Yet these economic metrics are influenced by a variety of factors, and we don’t live in a static world in which tariffs are the only variable. Studies have consistently proved that tariffs are inflationary, and if inflation in Mr. Luskin’s observations was unchanged following the introduction of tariffs, then perhaps the only logical conclusion is that inflation would otherwise have gone down in the absence of tariffs.