The problem here is that Trump is treating international trade the same way he treated his real estate deals. If he thought he was in a position of strength, he would bully his opponent into giving concessions, including paying less than contractually agreed upon. Most would go through that once and never do business with him again, but NYC is a big town and there was always someone Trump could find to con.
The difference in international trade is that you don't want the other party to walk away forever - you need them as a trading partner for the future, and there's not an endless supply of other suckers willing to do business with you. When Trump announced tariffs on China, one of the first things they did was cancel all soybean contracts with the US and find another supplier - Brazil. How was that helpful?? China was buying 2/3 of our soybean crop, and now they aren't. This has to be devastating for our farmers. And while Trump initially said that the farmers were "patriots" who would take "some pain" to support his tariffs, it quickly became apparent that this wasn't true - and so Trump came up with a $12 Billion bailout for the people who supported him.
It's becoming more and more obvious that this guy has no idea about what he's doing - he will not listen to his advisers because he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. It's that thought process that will eventually lead to his downfall - it's only a matter of time. |
