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Your guide for what American choices 2024 means for Washington and the world
Donald Trump fired the first shots in what threatens to become a devastating trade war. The US president Tariffs will be shown by the North American and world economies in Mexico, Canada and China. Those outdated for decades of progress towards economic integration that increased us and global prosperity. One of the absurdities is that these measures under trade conditions are completely unchanged; They are used as a forced means of further Trump’s domestic political plan and pulling out the concessions of American neighbors who could be beyond their power. The second is that now will be one of the main victims – in the resulting damage to their own economy and its condition in the world.
The return of the US president was published by various illusory explanations for his love for tariffs. They will, he says, renew the American industrial base, replace income tax and repay American debt. A peculiar motive for his tariffs this weekend is instead to suppress a “great threat to illegal foreigners and deadly drugs”, including Fentanil. TrumpThe threat of sanctions had, in truth, already encouraged steps from Canada and Mexico to they amplify their boundaries. But that, no doubt, would continue that the president would have chosen to remain his hand. And there are practical limitations to what they can do – especially Canada, the source of only a fraction of irregular immigration or fental that exceeds Mexico.
The legal excuse for Trump’s move is also questionable. He used the International Law on Economic Force for Emergency Room, an executive body that allows him to respond to extraordinary economic or security threats. However, this law has not previously been used to pass the tariff. Courts and congress should block them.
If not, a pity will be strong. Trump’s tariffs will only quickly take over to a larger American inflation and reduce growth. AND justified retaliation it will enhance the effects. Trump seems to gamble that, since his measures will hit Canada and Mexico even stronger, given the greater dependence on the trade than America, it will quickly descend. But the US president not only challenges the trade basis of their prosperity, but causes their pride as a sovereign nation.
The discovery of the North American freelance and supply chains built over the decade will also cause a serious blow to American consumers and corporate America – especially the refinement of oil, car production, pharmaceutical products and agriculture. Trump’s procedures at China are less dramatic, but they look like a modest payment on more extensive plans. Together, three countries make up almost half of US imports. The estimated $ 100 billion in additional customs duties will surely reduce economic costs.
Damage to American diplomatic power is no less deep. Since the 1980s, both Canada and Mexico have spent decades of skepticism in order to strategically bet on free trade with the United States, culminating in the 1994 oil. Economic benefits, especially in Canada, were abundant. Both Trump forced him in his first term to negotiate the agreement. That the president now reports roughly, even through the revised agreement, USMac, sends a message to America, cannot be trusted by America. Canada and Mexico should not leave Trump’s moves without answering, but their answer must be creative, coordinated and selective. Chrystia Freeland, former Minister of Finance of Canada, who was running to replace Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, suggested tariffs that will affect key constituencies supported by the US President, such as Elon Musk Tesla vehicles.
Still, trade war is symptomatic of a bigger question in Trump’s America. The president himself decides which questions are important, exaggerates in diagnosis and chooses the cure. As with his attempts to impose his own priorities Discharge of federal workers and freezing grantsThe tools are often blunt. His trade war threatens to be catastrophic, but chaos will not end there.
