Global Political and Social Awareness - Trump's Isolationist Policies

Trump's administration has installed rigid standards of isolationism which haven't been seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s. As you know, the best known form of isolationism is the setup of tough tariffs. The reason for them is seen as misleading at best. Claims of protectionism and enforcing fairness haven't been verified. Yet Trump believes it's the best method to combat economic injustice and to fight for America's place in the sun.

Consequently and extremely surprising, the American president has chosen to place tariffs mostly on allied nations, disrupting free trade between nations. One of the biggest victims of his brash approach is Canada, America's northern neighbor. Due to globalization and the unique economic and trade partnership with Canada for decades, its relationship with the country is closer than any of its other allies of NATO. It can be argued that Canada's nation-building opportunities came into full view during the American Revolution as skilled loyalists fled to the North in protest of the powerful movement for independence from Great Britain. Since the founding of the United States of America, trade with the British colonies north of the border has been strong.

Economists have argued that tariffs should only be a short-term solution to stabilize a nation's economy. Subsequently, implementing it as a long-term plan will have serious consequences. Despite the consensus, Trump believes the best method is the long-term installation of economic barriers. There's also retaliatory measures from countries faced with aggressive foreign policies which can amplify internal issues. In the end, end consumers will feel the strongest pinch. Firstly, a restricted flow of resources forces a manufacturing plant to raise its prices on their finished products. Secondly, smaller companies raise their costs to offset a decrease in goods and profits. In turn, the end consumer has to pull more out of their pockets to purchase any items they need. If this trend continues long enough, the buying power of companies and consumers will wane and the overall economic picture will look grim. 

The Canadian aluminum and steel sector was the primary target for Washington D.C. Dairy products were the next one. Trump's plan was to balance trade between Canada and the United States. He complained that countries like Canada have taken advantage of the United States. This is incorrect. The United States have benefited the most from the free trade deal with its northern neighbor. For example, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, America saw a $7 billion surplus in 2018 with Canada. In fact, Canada and Mexico came up with bigger numbers. Canada reported a $103.2 billion American surplus whereas Mexican officials estimated a $128.5 billion American surplus in 2018 in reference with their trade deal. It makes sense, since the American economy far outweighs any output Canada and Mexico can achieve annually. 

All participating countries recently ratified a new NAFTA deal to ensure fairness and stability between members. Only time will tell if it will be beneficial for every country involved.

The situation is different with China. China, in the past, has a history of espionage and duplicating authentic merchandise from the West. Although this is no longer the case, Trump affirms continuously that trade with China is risky and deeply concerning. He'd love to abandon any trade prospects with the country if he could. But trade with China is unavoidable. With a burgeoning economy and superstar status on the Asian continent, China's influence is strongly felt on the world stage. It would be disastrous to end any form of trade relationship with them.

Yet there are two sides to every coin. A flourishing economy has an insatiable appetite. In fact, domestically grown and harvested resources can't keep up with China's incredible drive to the top. In turn, China relies on trade from foreign powers to feed its powerful machine. One of its biggest trade partners is the United States. Farming products such as soybeans, grains and feeds, livestock, and horticultural products are the biggest American exports and many of them go to China. As the Chinese shut off the tap as retaliation to American tariffs, it'll compound internal economic distress even further. American farmers will be hit the hardest, no doubt about it. As a result, groceries and food prices will go up which will harm the end consumer from this side as well. Naturally, I believe China won't be as extensively harmed as the American market will be. Trump attacks China economically as a whole whereas the Chinese government retaliates strategically. Furthermore, China can easily look elsewhere for desired products as the United States figures out the mess. 

There hasn't been a massive disruption to world trade since Trump took office in 2017. He relies on anecdotes rather than proven data when making crucial decisions for the good of the country. Hopefully, the worst can be avoided when cooler heads prevail.