To make any sense of it you need to remember that Trump is neither a

politician or a diplomat, he is a businessman. He’s running the US like he does his companies. The US is heavily in depth (120% of GDP) and he perceives that his current supply chains are taking advantage of him based on the US$ 1.1 trillion trade deficit. His answer is to leverage what he perceives to be the power of the US market to squeeze his suppliers. It’s no different to what large corporate organisations do worldwide. Time will tell if he’s miscalculated. US imports make up about 13% of global trade, a sizeable amount but not one that other countries can’t mitigate by setting up new trade agreements (i.e. China-Japan-South Korea).

The world has moved on. The often used references to 20th century ideologies may no longer be applicable in the 21st century. Liberal democracy may well be in danger but not from fascism or communism but rampant capitalism.

Posted By: The Gaffer, Apr 3, 12:07:23