Donald Trump is digging in on his trade war even as some of the United States’ strongest allies push back harder, with the European Union calling Trump’s tariffs “in effect, a tax on the American people.” But according to Trump, Trump is winning:
“Every country is calling every day, saying, ‘Let’s make a deal, let’s make a deal.’ It’s going to all work out,” Trump said Sunday, echoing his remarks earlier in the year that trade wars are “easy to win.”
It would be standard practice for our nation’s allies to suggest negotiating to solve disputes, rather than the major victory Trump makes it out to be. And “let’s negotiate” is a far cry from the surrender Trump is implying there—it’s pretty clear the European Union is not folding to Trump, while Mexico just elected a new president who’s likely to take an even stronger stance against him. The question is whether negotiations are happening that could lead to some big Trump win, and that’s … not exactly the story being reported by non-Trump sources:
Trump is now engaged in trade fights with most of the world’s major economies, including China, the European Union and Japan. Although Trump speaks periodically with leaders from these nations, formal trade talks have stalled with most of them as the two sides remain far apart and foreign countries say Trump’s wishes are unclear.
While tariffs certainly can be used to renegotiate trade relationships and get better deals—while there’s a good argument for tariffs, done right—we’re talking about Donald Trump, the world’s worst negotiator. If he even knew what he wanted to negotiate, he’d fail. But he’s definitely ready to keep going down this path, regardless, his commerce secretary says, of what happens on the stock market, and even as his administration considers government aid for soybean farmers and companies in Trump-supporting states warn of the losses they face.