The Inner Protectionist Comes Out for the Export-Import Bank

Suppose we proposed giving President Obama the option to put modest tariffs, say 2-3 percent, on imports of various categories of goods and services, if he felt it was important for the economy. Every right-thinking person would denounce this as crude protectionism. The argument for the export-import bank is essentially the same as the argument for selective tariffs.

The big difference is that all sorts of people who would be among the protectionist denouncers are making the case for the Ex-I...