Biden campaigned against the Trump tariffs as a tax on the middle class. Once in office, he held off on rescinding them. His reason for hesitating was not crazy. Biden recognized that Trump’s opposition to trade had helped him in the Midwest, and he wanted to position his party as an ally of the industrial Midwest rather than as an automatic ally of free trade.

Tariffs raise prices for consumers in a bid to protect domestic industry. In an era during which inflation had run chronically below the Fed’s target, and working-class wages had stagnated, it made some sense for Biden to pay that cost.

But those circumstances have changed dramatically. There are plenty of jobs available for American workers of all skill levels, but prices are rising at levels not seen in decades.

One recent study finds that rescinding the Trump tariffs would reduce prices 1.3 percent. With inflation currently running over 8 percent, that would hardly resolve the crisis, but it would do more to alleviate it than any other step Biden could take on his own.