Leaders | Trade after “Liberation Day”
MORE than 100 days after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day”, the new global trading order is becoming clear. It is a system of imperial preference. Canada has angered the president, partly by planning to recognise Palestine as a state, and so it faces a duty of 35%. Because Mr Trump reckons that exporters unfairly cheat America, on July 31st he said he would impose “reciprocal” tariffs on many trading partners, ranging from 10% to 41%. Meanwhile, in order to ward off tariff threats the European Union, Japan and South Korea have all struck deals with Mr Trump, where they promise to open their markets and invest hundreds of billions of dollars in America, in return for levies on their exports of 15%.
LeadersOpinionGlobalisationUnited States
The ban on sales to China was working, and should be kept in place
Pedro Sánchez needs to let his country’s democracy renew itself
That will involve a wholesale rethink of the Nagoya protocol
To win voters’ consent, policymakers must offer pragmatism and hope
Internal reform matters more than external trade
They could even set it back
