As advertised, Trump presidency has thrown disruptive balls in global geo-economic playgrounds. And yet the most disruptive move of them all may come today with Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal tariffs” — retaliatory tariff-marking irrespective of the political colour of the trade partner, ally or adversary. Separately, on Thursday 25% tariff is set to be imposed on all cars and car parts being imported into US. Thus, tariffs make a comeback in American policy toolkit after several decades of free-trade evangelism when US swapped political allegiance for market access.
Pre-World War I, US was a highly transactional major power. It tailgated British (more accurately British Indian) expeditions in Asia to expand trade footprints — most famously with China in the aftermath of opium wars. At the same time, it zealously protected its own spheres of influence in the Americas against British overreach, like in Venezuela in the late 19th century. It was starkly illustrative that the largest trade and tech partner of the world’s first communist state, Soviet Russia, was America!
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Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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