PERILS OF THE NEW PROTECTIONISM
TRYING to tame a tiger by throwing him raw meat when he growls menacingly is a risky strategy. Yet the Nixon Administration is following just such a policy in foreign trade, attempting to appease protectionists by placing curbs on the imports about which they howl loudest. Last month the Administration bludgeoned Japan into setting "voluntary" quotas on shipments of textiles. Now it is trying to persuade Italy, Spain and Japan to similarly restrict sales of shoes to the U.S. These moves expand a record that includes such earlier items as the "temporary" 10% surcharge that Nixon...