The Torygraph is not a Trump supporter:
This is one of America’s most shocking economic defeats in 40 years
Quote:
“For all intents and purposes, the US is now a rogue nation when it comes to trade,” said Michael Gasiorek, the director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex.
“I don’t think there is a global trade war going on. The US is fighting a trade war with everybody but the others are keen to co-operate even more.”
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You now have China doing this:
Quote:
China has launched a charm offensive to woo European officials and companies, to the point of inviting the heads of Mercedes and BMW to meet Xi Jinping.
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has been on a recce mission to Beijing to explore a Sino-European truce to reorder global trade.
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Lastly, an interesting take on the legality:
Quote:
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Trump’s tariffs are, of course, unconstitutional. Article I of the Constitution gives Congress exclusive power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,” and for good reason.
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If true, expect challenges in the Federal courts ..
---------- Post added at 12:41 ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 ----------
Prescient discussion of tariffs by Reagan
Transcript is here:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archiv...d-fair-trade-4
Quote:
Indeed, throughout the world there's a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition. Now, there are sound historical reasons for this. For those of us who lived through the Great Depression, the memory of the suffering it caused is deep and searing. And today many economic analysts and historians argue that high tariff legislation passed back in that period called the Smoot-Hawley tariff greatly deepened the depression and prevented economic recovery.
You see, at first, when someone says, ``Let's impose tariffs on foreign imports,'' it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works -- but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.
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"People who don't know history, are doomed to repeat it"