Donald Trump’s trade wars have already complicated the response to COVID-19 infections and made the road to recovery steeper. If Congress passes a resolution currently under consideration opposing certain tariff exemptions for developing countries, it would be another sign U.S. trade policy is moving in the wrong direction.

Until now, Washington’s primary concerns in Mali have been the jihadist insurgency in its northern and central regions and, secondarily, the promotion of democracy. With the military coup this summer—the second one in less than a decade—and with mounting attacks by jihadists, that policy is not working.