Trump’s tough trade tactics risk turning the world away from America

US President Donald Trump’s first term changed the conversation on trade in the United States. Where the consensus had once been that open markets would eventually lead to even adversarial states like China and Russia adopting values like America’s, Trump’s first-term tariffs led to a recognition of their uses, and a deeper understanding of how adversarial states game the free-trade system.

Tariffs do indeed lead to higher costs for consumers, but had Europe and the US strategically borne that pain years ago, the former might have weaned itself off Russian oil long before the Ukraine invasion, and the latter would not be facing a strategic dependence on pharmaceuticals and critical minerals from its primary geopolitical opponent.

Just as one can be too trusting with those who might betray them, liberal defenders of the free-trade system have too often displayed an idealism that its opponents could take advantage of.

Yet, just as one can be too trusting and idealistic, one can also be too calculating. If the former are too easily taken advantage of, the latter are telling the world their promises are of no value and will soon run out of partners.

Though Trump has been in office less than two weeks, his tariff threats have tipped past the point of pragmatism into irrationality. He has threatened 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He has threatened 10 per cent tariffs on China and levies on the European Union. He has even threatened tariffs (and sanctions) on Russia if it does not negotiate an end to its Ukraine invasion.

And, most recently, he threatened tariffs on Colombia if it did not take back planes full of immigrants originating from the South American country. Though the tariffs were scrapped once the Colombian government (allegedly) relented to US demands, the president of Colombia initially responded with an interesting (if long-winded and tangential) social media post.

  

​Read More