It has been interesting to watch Donald Trump back in action. Sitting in India, Trump’s thumping win over Kamala Harris – that seems to have sapped the Democrats of their energy and pushed them into a maelstrom of blame-shifting despair and self-doubt – has almost a theatrical quality to it. It is the very best reality TV. A show that cannot be replicated by production houses.
If his win was Season 1, Season 2 is already upon us, nearly two months before the president-elect moves into the Oval Office. Trump’s threat of piling tariff on Canada, Mexico and China – America’s three largest trade partners – and his promise of enacting the executive order on Day 1 of his return to office has sparked a tsunami of reactions. Besides entertainment, the show provides valuable lessons. New Delhi will be observing closely, maybe feeling a little hot under the collar.
The president-elect of the United States, who will assume office on January 20, has said that his decision to levy 10 percent tax on Chinese goods over and above the duties already in place are to stop fentanyl flows into the US. China produces precursors for the synthetic opioid that is the primary driver of overdose deaths in America and Trump accused China of doing nothing to stop the shipping of illegal drugs to American shores. The former president ran on a promise to ‘fix’ the fentanyl crisis.
Similarly, his move to impose a staggering 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico, the two neighbours with whom the United States enjoys deeply integrated supply chains, are for what Trump says is their “inability” to stem the flow of narcotics and illegal migrants through the US border.
A lot has been written/will be written about whether Trump intends to implement the tariff or whether he is bluffing, using the levy as a gambit to force countries into making concessions. It is perhaps more instructive to watch how the countries, politicians, market forces, organisations, industry groups and trade bodies are already shifting positions due to Trump’s threats.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/kings-gambit-what-trumps-threats-of-big-tariffs-on-imports-from-china-canada-and-mexico-tell-us-13839936.html.
