Retreat On All Fronts For Trump S Wars

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“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.”
- Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu, two-and-a-half millennia ago
Donald Trump as US president showed he had neither strategy nor tactics in his Maga war to make America great again. All he had was high-profile, attention-grabbing, astronomical tariffs against the rest of the world, showing he had neither strategy nor tactics - a surefire road to defeat.
It’s ironic that Trump, author of “The Art of The Deal”, needs to be schooled on strategy and tactics by a saying from Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer, and the author of “The Art of War” from around 500 BCE. It’s a reflection of how shallow his thinking is.
ADSNow he has made some embarrassing retreats in the face of objections by big business, the only constituency he cares about, and his prolific funders, which are likely to be mightily hit by the tariffs which will steeply increase the costs of inputs.
iPhones and tariffs
We have seen how Apple’s iPhones, even if they were made in the US, would have perhaps over 80 percent of foreign components, mostly from China. That will increase input costs by over 40 percent, raising the price of the final product considerably.
Multiply that by millions of products, and if Trump continues with his madness, the result will be an enormous hike in prices across the board, perhaps the highest inflation rate the US will see in decades, crimping consumption, slowing activity, and even causing a recession.
What did Trump do about the electronic components for phones, computers, and devices? He retreated in defeat. And he is retreating on a broader front.
On April 9, he announced the higher tariff rates will go into effect just after midnight, affecting imports from dozens of countries. But hours later, his administration said it will suspend most of these higher rates for 90 days, while maintaining the recently-imposed 10 percent levy on nearly all global imports.
Shock and awe did not succeed against its main target, China, which went tit-for-tat, fully aware that the US and its people would suffer far more from the tariffs than it would.
China, the world’s largest trading nation and manufacturing hub, even warned other nations not to take part in trade moves which disadvantage China.
US President Donald Trump announcing his ‘Reciprocal Tariffs’US neighbours Canada and Mexico, reacted strongly against Trump’s unilateral attempt to dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) that had previously given preferential access to each other’s goods and helped all three prosper.
Trump loses trade war
With China retaliating and other countries standing up to the US (negotiating for reasonable tariffs is not kissing ass, as Trump characterised it) and major trading blocs asserting their right to independence of action, Trump has no traction.
He has shown himself to be a clawless eagle, unable even to punish others without imposing greater damage on the US itself. He is now making reconciliatory noises such as these.
ADS“145 percent is very high (for China) and it won’t be that high,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office two days ago. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”
That’s a huge come down from his rhetoric before - “Our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered” by other nations - a blatant lie, to impress hardline sections which form his support base in the US as he unveiled his Maga plan.
His aggressive vice president, JD Vance, on a visit to India with his ethnic Indian wife, was also less than his usual combative self, speaking in measured, reconciliatory tones, seeking to build a relationship with India.
US Vice President JD VanceThe Hindu reported yesterday: “However, at a public address in Jaipur, Mr Vance responded to some of the criticism of the Trump administration’s actions. Rather than seeking to ‘start a trade war’, Mr Trump hopes to ‘rebalance global trade’, Mr Vance said, and outlined the BTA (bilateral trade arrangement)as a ‘final deal’ for ‘fairness’.”
Not only has the US lost the trade war, but it has also shown toothlessness and vulnerability at the most crucial of moments, losing face and credibility.
Diplomatic gaffes
In the early days of the Trump administration, Vance took the unprecedented and undiplomatic step of publicly chastising the visiting president from Ukraine for not thanking the US for its support and even criticising his dress as disrespectful. It led to an abrupt end of the meeting.
(L-R) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump, US Vice President JD VanceTrump’s plans to annexe Greenland and Panama have not gone anywhere. Vance’s visit to Greenland was met with a reception more frosty than the Arctic cold, from a people noted for their warmth and hospitality otherwise.
Vance’s support for German extreme right-wing political parties and his talking down to the European Union was heavily criticised. It galvanised Europe into a unity not seen for a very long time, with even traditional ally the United Kingdom, a non-EU member, baulking in its support of the US.
In the US, Trump’s popularity has fallen drastically, with heavy criticism of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the dodgy Doge, which has obtained reams of confidential information from government repositories, but has shown little demonstrable success.
Trump’s lecturing of Federal Reserve chairperson Jerome Powell over lowering interest rates and a hint that he might fire him backfired Tuesday when markets and the US dollar fell, registering protest against the interference of Trump in the central bank.
They recovered the following day when Trump withdrew his threat and said he had no intention of firing Powell. Yet another retreat.
As the world grew weary of Trump’s vacillation with policies and the very outrageous move of even trying to implement them, the confidence in the US as a safe haven for money fell to its lowest level in the last 70 years.
Even if Trump withdrew all his decadent policies designed to let other countries and their less affluent citizens pay for the US’ previous spending excesses, the fact that such outlandish policies were even considered and partially implemented has wilted trust in a country relied upon as a stabilising influence.
Some economists are comparing Trump and the US to Third World dictators and their suffering countries!
Trump is the only US president who can claim the dubious distinction, in a mere 100 days in power, of dragging the US down into a quagmire of suspicion, distrust, ill will, scepticism, and backtracking to a level not seen in decades.
That’s a horrendously bad way to start a presidency and reflects totally on the kind of man he is - a convicted felon, a sexual abuser, a racist to the extent of being a fascist, a psychopath, a bully, an irrational person, an ignoramus in economics, and an extremist.
His presidency gives him immunity from answering and being punished for these charges. How can anyone expect anything reasonable from him and the band of fanatical fans who support his administration from within and without? - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM is amazed that a person like Trump can become president in free and fair elections in a country as great as the US.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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