Most tomatoes from Mexico will face a 21 percent tariff effective July 14, the U.S. Department of Commerce said recently. Ironically, the “love apple” may be the perfect illustration of how trade contributes to economic prosperity — and of the folly of President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies.

First and foremost, the tomato trade gives Americans access to wintertime produce. While fresh U.S. tomatoes are abundant and delicious in the summer, most states simply can’t produce the fussy fruit on a year-round basis (Florida is the primary exception here, and I’ll return to it shortly.) Before agricultural trade boomed under the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. consumers had to pay significantly more for a tomato in December or January than in August or September. The growth of trade has not only slowed tomato inflation, it’s also made supply and prices more stable.

Second, trade has allowed the U.S. and its partners to focus on their comparative advantages, just as the British economist David Ricardo famously predicted. In Mexico, tomatoes and other crops thrive thanks to year-round warm and arid conditions, as well as access to low-cost labor. Meanwhile, Mexican growers have perfected the use of greenhouses — often erected with government subsidies, to the chagrin of U.S.........

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