Tariffs Have Two Very Different Meanings For Trump
Tariffs Have Two Very Different Meanings For Trump . (MENAFN - Asia Times) 

Donald Trump has never been a person who respects convention. So last week, when he made threats to Mexico, Canada and China about what his trade policy is going to be when ...
América - MenaFN
(MENAFN- Asia Times) Donald has never been a person who respects convention. So last week, when he made threats to Mexico, Canada and China about what his trade policy is going to be when he is inaugurated on January 20, few were surprised. Presidents-elect are not supposed to announce policies in advance, but he doesn't care about such niceties.

Strangely enough, however, his announcement was actually quite reassuring, probably more reassuring than he meant it to be.

How could a threat to impose 25% tariffs on all goods imports from America's two biggest and closest trading partners on the first day of his administration be considered reassuring? How could a threat to impose an extra 10% tariff on imports from China be reassuring? The answer lies in the apparent motivation for these threats.

The big debate concerning Trump's stated love of tariffs, a word he described during the election campaign as“the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” is whether he sees these import taxes as tools of economic and fiscal policy or as weapons he can use as leverage in negotiations. If they are tools of economic and fiscal policy, the tariffs will be widespread and long-lasting. If they are negotiating weapons, they will be targeted on specific countries and could be fairly short-lived.

The reason why this week's threats were quite reassuring is that they fell into the second category, of tariffs as negotiating weapons. And the targets of those threatened weapons were so vague and implausible that Mexico, Canada and China should all find it quite easy to respond to them.
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https://menafn.com/1108948580/Tariffs-Have-Two-Very-Different-Meanings-For-Trump
2024-12-02
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(MENAFN - Asia Times) 

Donald Trump has never been a person who respects convention. So last week, when he made threats to Mexico, Canada and China about what his trade policy is going to be when ...
Tariffs Have Two Very Different Meanings For Trump