The looming global trade war
America is setting dangerous new precedents as it tries to curb imports
PRESIDENT Donald Trump does not follow through on everything he says or tweets. Sometimes he blithely ignores past statements, sometimes he seamlessly reverses himself. For a while, hopes that tariffs of 25% on steel imports, and 10% on aluminium, which the president announced on March 1st, might not actually come to pass hung by that thread.
The thread snapped on March 6th when Gary Cohn, an investment banker, resigned from his post as Mr Trump’s chief economic adviser. For months Mr Cohn had been fighting Peter Navarro, Mr Trump’s trade adviser, and Wilbur Ross, his commerce secretary, over the proposed tariffs. His departure could only mean he had been beaten, and that a formal declaration of the tariffs will follow shortly, quite possibly soon after The Economist went to press on March 8th. The measures, it appears, may not be as sweeping as originally suggested; in particular, Canada and Mexico may be exempt. But they are worrying enough.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "Massive attack"
From the March 10th 2018 edition
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