The bluff and bluster hallmarks of President Donald Trump’s presidencies have morphed into blunder in the retreat from his incautious imposition of tariffs on China.
The Herald’s North America correspondent Michael Koziol reports Trump says he will substantially lower his unprecedented 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods and “won’t play hardball” in recognition that the current trade war between the world’s two largest economies cannot last. His backdown followed comments by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to a closed-door meeting with investment bankers that negotiations with China would be a “slog”, but neither side considered the status quo sustainable.
Donald Trump signs an executive order as Scott Bessent, left, and Howard Lutnick look on.Credit: AP
When Trump unveiled his tariff policies this month, punishing foreign friends and foes and confoundingly hurting those he claims to help – American consumers and industry – we noted that despite his predilection for chaos, he gives ground when the whip comes down.
While Trump’s attempt to rebalance the US trade deficit with China is understandable in the context of his promise to make America great again, he recklessly used a hammer initially and then a sledgehammer when diplomacy and negotiation were needed. His ill-thought-through protectionism opened the door to a world trade war that caused a sell-off in equities around the world and could cost the Australia economy more than $13 billion this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, damaging the very industries that have underwritten America’s AI boom and catapulted the US to the forefront of the global tech arms race.
His China gambit is another example of the shadow that falls between Trump’s words and actions: during the presidential election campaign, he promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, bring peace to the Middle East and a blizzard of trade deals.
Three months after his inauguration, Ukraine remains invaded by Russia, and Trump is threatening to abandon peace talks; in the Middle East, he floated the ludicrous idea of turning Gaza into an American zone, “a Riviera of the Middle East”, but Hamas still holds hostages, and Israel’s bombing continues. On tariffs, Trump relented after stock markets reacted in shock, pausing his so-called reciprocal tariffs for 90 days but doubling down on China, and now he has backed away from that too.
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Trump’s acolytes dismiss critics, saying his missteps are part of a negotiating style burnished in his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, honed as a real estate developer and reality television star, and then turned into his political persona.
A real estate deal is different from running a nation. One is aimed at profit, the other at the public good. It is the world’s tragedy that Trump appears unable to appreciate the difference. Tariff deals will be struck eventually, but Trump has caused huge personal and financial costs and needlessly trashed trust in the US.
The China backdown has again exposed the gulf between his rhetoric and deed. It is one thing to say you will get things done, another thing to get it done.
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