As Japan shaped Trump’s perspective on tariffs

When the richness of Donald Trump in the 90s seized the fall and needed to raise the money quickly, he sailed his 282 ft (85m) Superyacht, Trump’s Princess, in Asia, hoping he could attract the Japanese rich.

It was not the first time a businessman had been looking for Japanese customers or lenders for his projects.

In the world of Real Estate of Real Estate in New York, Trump had a seat first from his fifth Avenue skyscraper from Tokyo who buys Spree in the 80s of the iconic American brands and real estate, including Rockefeller Center.

At that time, his worldview on the trade and relations of America with his allies was formed, and his fixation on tariffs, import tax, began.

“He had a huge indignation for Japan,” says Barbara Res, a former executive vice president in Trump’s organization.

He watched with jealousy as Japanese businessmen see as geniuses, she says. He felt that America did not get enough in return to help his ally Japan with a military defense.

Trump often complained that he had difficulty in accordance with large groups of Japanese businessmen.

“I’m tired of watching other countries exit from the United States.”

This Trump quote could be withdrawn since 2016, but in fact it was from the late 80’s when he appeared on CNN Larry King Live, at about the time he first floated his name as a potential presidential candidate.

Fresh from sharing his business philosophy in his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, Trump has embarked on a tirade against US trade policies in national interviews.

In an animated interview with Oprah Winfrey before the live study audience on the Oprah show, he said he would solve foreign policy differently by paying their honest share. “

He added that there was no free store when Japan was “throwing” products into the US market, but it was “impossible to do business”.

Jennifer Miller, an associate professor of history at Dartmouth College, said others shared his concerns about the economy at the time.

Japan has secured competition for American production, especially in consumer electronics and cars. As US factories were closed and new Japanese brands entered the market, experts spoke of Japan, which surpassed the US as the world’s leading economy.

“Trump is kind of symbolically symbolic to many people who somehow questioned American leadership in an international order guided by America and whether it actually served the United States,” says Pro Miller.

Prior to his performance, Oprah, Trump spent almost $ 100,000 to publish “Open Letters” in ads on the entire page in three main US newspapers.

The title was: “There is nothing wrong with the US foreign defense policy that the small backbone cannot cure.”

In him, he said that Japan and other nations had used the US for decades. He claimed that “the Japanese, unobstructed by the huge costs of the dam (as long as the United States would do so for free), built a strong and vibrant economy with unprecedented surpluses.”

Trump believed that an apparent solution was to “tax” and a rich nation.

“The world is laughing at American politicians as we protect the ships we do not own, carrying oil we don’t need, intended for allies who will not help,” he wrote.

The ad served as a powerful introduction to Trump’s foreign policy, Prof Miller said. One built at the belief of zero-pleas that the Allies are freeloaders and that the liberal internationalist approach that has dominated World War II has been weak and stupid in a competitive world. The solution, he claimed, was a more aggressive, protectionist trade policy.

“I think this is one of the reasons that he loves his tariffs so much, is it not only with his transactional ideology, but also a sense of himself, who is very deeply rooted as this successful agreement,” she said. “And the fact that tariffs can be threatened; they can be stabbed over another country.”

Clyde Prestowitz conducted negotiations with Japan during the Reagan administration as advisor to the trade secretary. A longtime critic of free trade policy, he said that no one who was intellectually serious was connected to Trump or the then simplified approach. He claims that the president did not offer the right solution for the problems he started.

“Tariffs are a kind of things you can say, look at what I did, I hit those guys … so you know, you can be a tough guy. Whether they are effective or not in any way, it’s really open to discussion . “

Mr. Prestowitz believes that the real problem is then and now it is that now they have no strategic production policy, despite the appeal against unjust trade.

Of course, the fears of the rise of Japan have calmed down over time and now it is an ally. Instead, China is the fiercest corporate competitor to the US. This week Trump welcomed the Japanese Prime Minister in the oval office as one of his first foreign visitors.

But Donald Trump’s ruling philosophy is still the same as when he was a young real estate programmer. She still believes as strong in tariffs as the pressure tool to open their market and reduce trade deficit.

“It just tells it all the time to everyone who will listen whenever anyone asks, which is the truth of 40 years. And in the right one, you know that this is a very natural way to watch international stores,” said Michael Stay, an economist with the Conservative American Institute for Enterprise.

He says that students often share Trump’s intuitive thinking about the economy, and one of the great challenges the professors face convinces them that their understanding is wrong.

Mr. Stray says that despite Trump’s retaining party, with an attitude that has been a republican hug of free trade for decades, he does not think he is convinced that he is skeptical legislators, business leaders and economists.

The views remain that his views are that foreign imports are bad, that the size of a trade deficit is a useful measure of the success of politics, or that the ideal state for the US economy is just imports of goods that cannot be done in the US.

Mr. Strain believes that threats increase tariffs to US allies can reduce business investments and weaken international alliances.

Joseph Lavorgna, the chief economist of the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term, believes that there was a narrow focus on the tariffs and not enough to understand the big picture of what Trump tries to achieve.

He says the president wants to encourage the domestic industry, especially high -tech production.

The administration, he explains, believes that they can encourage more corporations to come to the US using tariffs, combined with deregulation, cheaper energy and lower corporation taxes, if they are adopted by the Congress.

“I think President Trump understands something that is very important, being a businessman and being a transaction, and it’s a free trade in theory great, but in the real world you need to have a fair trade and these are equal conditions.”

Bet Donald Trump is right. Few Republicans publicly opposed the president because it requires loyalty to his agenda.

However, some who were silent realize that their components could be influenced by growing prices and hope that they can convince Trump not to follow their beloved tariffs.