The app for independent voices
Even The Naysayers Are Tripped Up By Facts
Once again, the experts are blundering right past the obvious.
Suddenly countries everywhere want to renegotiate tariffs.
These are the same countries that were stymied on tariff negotiations during the Doha Round of Trade Talks sponsored by the WTO beginning in 2001 and which largely ground to a halt in 2006.
Even the Great Financial Crisis was inadequate as an impulse to make progress on tariff negotations, non-tariff trade barriers, and other issues involving global trade.
The last agreement reached within the framework of the Doha Development Agenda was in 2013—12 years ago.
Donald Trump has been President less than 100 days, and suddenly the entire world wants to renegotiate trade.
Suddenly every nation wants to do what they were unwilling to do under the Doha Round two decades ago.
For all the talk among the naysayers about the evils of tariffs and the promise of free trade, the reality is that the global maritime trading order has been one of tariffs and not of free trade. Prior to the Liberation Day tariffs the United States has had some of the lowest—and in many cases the lowest—tariffs in the world, while other countries have had higher tariffs against the United States.
If the end result of the Liberation Day tariffs should turn out to be a revival and then successful completion of the Doha Round of Trade Talks, will any of the naysayers acknowledge that their multilateral approach to trade issues would not have been restarted without President Trump and the tariffs?
If the end result of the Liberation Day tariffs is a series of bilateral agreements in lieu of the Doha Round, will any of the naysayers concede that is an improvement over last week’s status quo ante and credit President Trump and the tariffs for getting the world to that point?
There are a lot of moving pieces right now, and anyone listening to Jaime Dimon and the rest of Wall Street clutch their pearls over tariffs needs to look around the world and see the entire picture. When you play chess it is important to look at the entire board, and on this global trade chessboard there are number of small moves taking place on all sides that are not getting much attention on Wall Street.
