The urge to protect

ON AUGUST 19TH Ms Tai, the US Trade Representative, claimed a success. Over the preceding two days, thousands of pickup-truck makers in Silao, Mexico voted to reject the union claiming to represent them, rerunning an earlier vote in April that they said was neither free nor fair. Ms Tai was fighting their corner. In May she triggered a “rapid response mechanism” in the USMCA, a trade deal between America, Canada and Mexico, which could have led to tariffs of 25% on exports to America—or worse. In her eyes, the vote showed that the threat had delivered “prompt and meaningful results for workers”.