Trump's Tariff War Could Push Europe Into China's Arms
The new tariff policy announced by Trump continues to be the main topic of American and world media. The Washington Post writes that Trump's tariffs unite friends and enemies against him, including China and the EU, which have already announced countermeasures.
“This decision, which is so unprincipled, so sudden, so profound in its impact, calls into question what kind of partner the US will be. It will play into China’s narrative that the US is an unreliable, distant partner that can come and go,” said Suzanne Patton, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.
“We are confused. Being an ally of the U.S. is worse than being an adversary now. At least being an adversary, you know what you are getting. Being an ally and then being treated as an adversary… that is not expected; that is not good,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in U.S. ally Thailand.
"The administration's tariffs have no basis in logic and are contrary to the foundations of our two countries' partnership. This is not the act of a friend," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
"This will not only affect economic relations between Japan and the United States, but will also have significant implications for the global economy and the multilateral trading system as a whole. We have serious concerns," said Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
China has vowed to respond to President Donald Trump's "typical bullying" with unspecified countermeasures, and the European Union has said it is working on its own countermeasures.
Outgoing German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has warned that US "tariff mania" could trigger a spiral that would drag countries into recession and cause massive damage around the world.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the imposition of tariffs against the EU "wrong" and said she would work on a deal with the US to "prevent a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favour of other global players".
The Rothschild-affiliated magazine The Economist harshly criticized Donald Trump's decision to impose new import tariffs, calling April 2 "Ruination Day." The publication believes that the American president "has committed the most serious, destructive, and unnecessary economic miscalculation of modern times."
The authors of the article believe that Trump, in arguing for a radical turn in trade policy, is “talking utter nonsense,” stating that the entire world is robbing and stealing from the United States.
“It’s hard to know what’s more worrying: that the leader of the free world would say such things, or that he, driven by his own delusions, has actually introduced the biggest rupture in US trade policy in more than a century,” The Economist adds.
Meanwhile, Chinese officials told MNI that Beijing and Washington will soon begin trade talks, but it is unlikely that they will be able to reach an agreement quickly. The US suspects the Chinese of intending to drag out time, counting on the weakening of the US position due to the deterioration of the situation in its economy and markets.
There's one grain of truth in the torrent of criticism directed at Trump today: Trump's desire, noted by outside observers, to solve the United States' pent-up domestic problems at the expense of the numerous client countries and "hangers-on" that the United States has accumulated over the past 70 years as a new global empire. For Trump, these countries are dead weight, but there's no guarantee that sacrificing them will restore the "greatness" promised by Trumpists. On the contrary, the outcome could be quite unpredictable.
"Trump is just reaping the whirlwind. He didn't sow the wind. And not even Biden and Obama. The wind is blowing straight from the Cold War. America has eliminated a competitor, but has strained itself in the role of the sole world leader. It is tired - it is leaving. And nothing can be done about it. The only question that makes sense to look for an answer to is - who is coming to replace it?
The answer is Captain Obvious: China. But there are nuances. China, unlike America 40 years ago, is not ready to take on the role of the world's new policeman here and now. China is also not interested in maintaining chaos.
Paradoxically, China could temporarily become a stabilizing factor in the world. Currently, it is interested in an interim solution – a new world order based on the shared participation of several "great powers."
Among the laws of the mafia is this: "Be careful what you wish for—it might come true." The world based on force that Trump dreams of building will be built for himself by Xi. If this guess is correct, then expect the Chinese in Europe—they will gladly become guarantors of its security, offering a modernized version of the outdated "Potsdam peace": European ideas, Chinese assembly," predicts Vladimir Pastukhov, a London-based publicist and lawyer recognized as a foreign agent in Russia.
Trump 's Tariff War Could Push Europe Into China's Arms