Illiberation Day: Trump's World Economic Crisis
15/04/25
Embedded Files
TRUMP PRESENTS 'RECIPROCOL' TARIFFS, IMAGE: THE WHITE HOUSE
Now that the dust is temporarily settled in the wake of the Trump administration's ‘Liberation Day’ on the 2nd of April, the time has come to attempt to unpack the political and economic chaos that has engulfed the last two weeks. In what will likely go down in history as one of the most tumultuous fortnights of the twenty first century, a combination of Donald Trump’s ego and misplaced nationalism has sent the world into crisis all the while the man responsible sat nonchalantly in the Oval Office, seemingly uncaring towards the powder keg he had just set alight.
In a bizarre event in the White House Rose Garden, Trump gleefully announced billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs on imports from just about every nation, which resulted in mass economic turmoil on a level unseen since the start of the pandemic. Although in less than a week, Trump had backed down on many of the tariffs, reducing all nations to a flat 10%, that is aside from China where Trump upped the ante continuously to the point of an all-out trade war with its largest economic competitor. The long short of it has been economic and political carnage with little hope for an end to it all in sight. Nonetheless, this article will seek to make sense of the motivations and consequences of Trump’s actions and why it is that he is so horribly mistaken.
TRUMP AT THE 'MAKE AMERICA WEALTHY AGAIN' EVENT, IMAGE: THE WHITE HOUSE
First, it is important to establish what the ideological reasoning behind Trump’s attack on decades of US economic policy is. Trump and his army of sycophantic supporters have stated that nations the world over have exploited the USA’s generosity in providing economic stability and security at the cost of its citizens. They believe that the globalist positions of previous administrations have caused nothing but harm to the American people as industry has slowly but surely moved away from American shores in favour of cheaper manufacturing markets in the developing world, eviscerating US jobs and local economies. While it is true that much of the once mighty US manufacturing industry is but a shadow of its former self, evident in the so called ‘rust belt’ across the once heavily industrialised Midwest which has caused economic hardship for the people and businesses there, Trump’s diagnosis and treatment could not be more incongruent. His grand plan for the new ‘golden age’ of America would see foreign goods taxed heavily so to encourage growth in local industries as the US becomes a more self-sufficient economy. However, while most nations build their economic policy carefully with a clear strategic vision in an elaborate game of 4D chess, Trump ham-fistedly throws Jenga bricks around the classroom with little care for what or who they hit.
Through either a lack of intellectual capacity or simply ignorance, Trump fails to account for a great many number of holes in his economic plan. The primary among which is that his actions predictably brought about abject chaos in global markets and international economies. On the whole, financial markets contracted upwards of 10% in one of the worst days since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 - a little short of disastrous.
Other immediate consequences included UK pension funds taking a corresponding hit as markets fell; they mercilessly dragged the retirement funds of Britain’s hardest workers down, leaving people scared and unsure of what may lie ahead or how it will impact them when the dust settles. Furthermore, US industry - yes, those very people whom Trump professes to care for above all else - suffered a punch to the gut as international supply lines were threatened in the wake of new hiked-up prices. The longer-term impacts of these events are yet to be determined however many remain sceptical that this will benefit anyone in the US or beyond as Trump’s volatility doesn’t exactly fill markets with confidence; it begs the question as to why anyone would place trust in US businesses when the President has shown willing to make such drastic changes at the slightest inclination. What makes this worse is the Trump administration seemingly fails to account for the fact that even if this ridiculous plan works, it will take years, if not decades for infrastructure on a level able to support the US economy without cheaper foreign imports; this President nor his people have the luxury of waiting that long for things to improve.
So, in summary, Trump has caused carnage the world over to the detriment of billions, all the while achieving nothing for the people whom this radical action was designed to help. It's almost as if he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Now, there’s a thought.
STARMER AND TRUMP, IMAGE: NUMBER 10
But what is the impact on the UK in the wake of all of this? Aside from the aforementioned impact on British pensions, the new tariffs pose a dangerous threat to the UK, particularly the automotive industry, where the cost for British companies to import British goods into the USA has now drastically increased. The US is Britain’s largest market for exported cars, with £6.4 billion worth in 2023, 18.4% of the overall exports from the same year. The Security of the British Motor Manufactures and Traders say that these new tariffs cannot be absorbed by an automotive industry already stretched too thin. Industry insiders suggest that these new taxes could threaten up to 25,000 jobs in the UK. Any disruption to the free flow of trade between the UK and the US could prove an irreconcilable loss to British industry and the wider economy.
While some commentators have suggested that this will result in a closer relationship with alternative trading partners such as the EU, these mainly seem to come from the overly optimistic group of the Europhile left, clutching at straws as they hope against all odds for some light at the end of this otherwise rather dingy tunnel. While Starmer’s government remains publicly hopeful of a new trade deal with the US, it seems that our American cousins are uninterested in coming to any such agreement and that Britain and its economy are being hung out to dry. Therefore, it seems that if no solution is found quickly, it will prove to be a devastating blow to an already struggling economy and a Labour government desperately looking for some good news to present to the electorate.
The events of the last few weeks can perhaps best be summarised by the Chinese Ministry of Trade, who wrote in a press release that President Trump had been “inconsistent with international trade rules… and is a typical unilateral bullying act”. Trump’s misguided ideological rigidity and egoism have seen him plunge the world into freefall and, despite his recent U-turns on most tariffs, has still left little room for a return to the calm and collected thinking needed to steady the ship. The Trump reality TV psychodrama seems to rumble on season after season, week after week, each new development rendering more carefully devised policy inconsequential as Trump does his best to prove that he is an oracle all while demonstrating the humility, grace and charisma of an aging prizefighter. Meanwhile, the world, holding its breath, hopes that the next weeks’ events will be marginally less insane than the previous.
Google Sites
Report abuse