TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Eleven Pacific Rim nations agreed to forge a new trade bloc that excludes the U.S. on Tuesday [1-23-18], as President Donald Trump signed an order to block certain cheap Asian imports, illustrating the battle lines of a new global trade climate.
The announcements underscore Mr. Trump’s challenge as he prepares to defend his new ‘America First’ trade policy in a speech on Friday to the champions of globalism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
U.S. officials say that as they escalate more aggressive trade policies in the coming weeks, they will also try to persuade skeptical allies that their actions are intended to improve the international economic system, not to destroy it. The underlying message: the U.S. is neither retreating from trading partners nor fighting them…
It will be hard to convince allies that ‘America First’ goes beyond isolationism and protectionism. The risk is that other countries retaliate against American producers with their own sanctions and step up new trade accords without the U.S…
The emerging Trump trade policy involves three main components, each advanced in different forms this week.
The first is ramping up trade enforcement actions, like the broad, steep tariffs announced Monday aimed at protecting U.S. makers of solar panels and washing machines. Administration officials say more such protections are coming, with studies under way for action on steel and aluminum. The U.S. will also probe weighing action against an array of Chinese goods and investments in retaliation for China allegedly pressuring U.S. companies to turn over valuable intellectual property.”
-Jacob M. Schlesinger, “U.S. Allies Shift Trade Priorities as Trump Rolls Out ‘America First’,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 23, 2018 04:07pm