In one week, Trump made moves against seven countries at once, revealing his core strategy to the world. Before he became the president of the United States, Trump couldn't wait to make moves. What is his priority? And who is the biggest loser after Trump's moves?
After four years of ups and downs, Trump will return to the White House as he wished. Compared with his first term, Trump has changed his cabinet appointments, no longer appointing professionals, but putting "loyalty" as the top priority. But in terms of core strategy, Trump has not changed, and still wants to gain as much benefit as possible for the United States through the "trade war". Within a week, Trump announced a tax increase on Canada, Mexico, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. It can be predicted that after Trump officially takes office, global trade will usher in a "storm".
However, Trump's core strategy was actually used by Napoleon 200 years ago. At that time, in order to drag down the British economy, Napoleon implemented the "Continental Blockade Policy", and the entire European continent joined the trade war against Britain. However, Napoleon's strategy ultimately failed, because Britain was not only able to trade with regions outside Europe, but also to maintain trade with Europe through secret connections. The reason why Britain can do these two things is that they were the first to enter the industrial age, and their manufacturing efficiency is very high, so they can continuously provide the world with high-quality and low-cost products. Unexpectedly, 200 years later, there are still people using this failed strategy, and the biggest goal is to become a stronger industrial power than Britain back then.
Moreover, Trump also included ASEAN countries in the list of tariff increases, which directly bankrupted a multi-year plan of the United States. In fact, since the Obama era, the United States has used its domestic market as a "bait" to attract ASEAN countries to stand on its side. During the Obama era, the United States promoted the establishment of the TTP Free Trade Agreement. During Trump's first term, he specifically left a loophole for Southeast Asia in the Sino-US trade war. After Biden came to power, he built the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework". However, the US plan has been implemented for more than 10 years, and it has only attracted the Philippines. Even Singapore, which has always been playing both sides, has expressed its determination to develop a deep cooperative relationship with China.
Of course, Trump's "trade war" strategy has also led to the biggest loser, which is the World Trade Organization (WTO). Because of his pursuit of "isolationism" and opposition to global free trade, Trump has repeatedly claimed to withdraw from the WTO during his first term. In order to facilitate the United States' "trade war", Trump also blocked the judges of the WTO Appellate Body from taking office, making the organization lose the ability to mediate trade disputes. It is foreseeable that after Trump starts his second term, the normal operation and authority of the WTO will be seriously affected, and it will fall into the dilemma of existing in name only.
By imposing tariffs on seven countries within a week, Trump has also sent a signal to the international community, that is, "no money can be made from the United States." Not only China, but any country can't make money. It has to be said that Trump's so-called "tariff stick" is essentially "closing the country to the outside world," which will eventually make all countries give up the US market. In this way, the United States is equivalent to strangling itself, and the final result can be imagined. #ETH持续飙升
