US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs significantly undermined business certainty and trust in the United States as a trading partner. To respond effectively, countries must first recognise the purpose of the tariffs. Trump is obsessed with winning and sees tariffs as tools to create coercive bargaining power for the United States as a major importer. He is imposing huge tariffs on the countries most vulnerable to them, then waiting to exploit the new position of strength to make demands. The uncertainty and fear they generate are not byproducts — they are the point, establishing the leverage Trump needs for the predatory negotiations that follow.
Making sense of Trump’s tariffs (Peter Warr – East Asia Forum)
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