Let us never speak of Liberation Day again.

President Donald Trump’s scheme to impose ridiculous retaliatory tariffs on our allies failed miserably. The only thing they accomplished was propping up the president’s surprisingly fragile ego.

“These countries are calling me, kissing my ass, they are dying to make a deal,” he boasted Tuesday night.

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Yet Trump's tariffs proved the World Trade Organization was right: “Trade rules tend to be taken for granted. They run in the background. Take them away and trading nations could do whatever they want. Without rules, there would be mayhem.”

Economists will spend the next few months renegotiating trade deals, and diplomats will search for a way to end the tariffs that are effectively a trade embargo on China. Trump will eventually declare victory by making marginal changes to existing trade rules, just as he did when replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement with the USMCA.

Texas’ economy, meanwhile, hangs in the balance.

Texas is the nation’s largest exporter, representing 20% of the value of U.S. goods shipped overseas, the Commerce Department reports. Products made from oil and gas make up 60% of Texas exports.

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