Should America’s trading partners take Donald Trump literally? Seriously? Or both?
Trump made no bones about his love of tariff power during the campaign when it comes to defending America’s interests — even when it might cost the US in the short run. He also explained that his main purpose in applying tariffs would be to get producers to relocate to the US and create jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector. And on occasion, Trump declared his intent to renegotiate his own shining trade achievement — the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA.
With all that in mind, our partners and competitors will need a jump start to deal with the new era of Trump II: Tariff Boogaloo. Yesterday, Trump declared his intention to apply significant new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, albeit for varying reasons:
