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The West has been temporarily united for once … in near universal condemnation of Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 25% duty on steel from the European Union, Canada and Mexico.
Emmanuel Macron, perhaps no longer bosom pals with the American President, called it a “mistake” and “illegal.” A former head of the WTO, Frenchman Pascal Lamy, said that the tariffs were “completely grotesque and clearly contrary to WTO rules.” He continued: “We Europeans have the right to take counter-measures and we are going to take them on American orange juice, on jeans, on Harley Davidsons.” That’s right Pascal – hit them where it hurts.
The world really has turned upside down if we have to get the French to defend the free market. Even Brussels chipped in. Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU’s trade commissioner, said: “If players in the world don’t stick to the rule book the system might collapse. That is why we are challenging the US and China at the WTO.”
The orthodoxy on Trump goes “take him seriously, not literally’.” Well, he might have given us a rare dance on North Korea, but it’s high time we took him seriously and literally on the economic protection stuff. On this he has been totally consistent: America is being played for a fool by the international consensus on free trade, he says. Again, and again, on the campaign trail, he said he would impose tariffs on key industries. There was a similar naivety over the ‘Muslim ban’. Oh, it’s just rhetoric, just a clever campaign shtick. Bannon’s ‘America First’ agenda remains the Trump agenda. This will be cause for pessimism for those in the UK who see Brexit as an opportunity to reshape world trade on a freer basis. We may well be alone in that aspiration, with maybe the French for company.
While Trump causes consternation in the West, in North Korea Kim Jong-un appeared in conciliatory mood, promising to proceed towards denuclearisation “on a stage-by-stage basis.” Positive noises but that leaves a hell of a lot of stuff to work out of course. How many concessions will the US have to make to achieve that? And how readily will North Korea respond to relaxation of sanctions? Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, echoed that scepticism: “This is going to be a process that will take days and weeks to work our way through.”
We have lift-off! Well, a new, shiny Italian government, packed full of Eurosceptics. Guiseppe Conte was sworn in as the new prime minister, at the head of a coalition of the Five Star Movement and the League. Donald Tusk, the European Council President, responded: “Your appointment comes at a crucial time for Italy and the entire European Union. To overcome our common challenges, we need unity and solidarity more than ever.” Watch my lips – don’t rock the boat.
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Iain Martin and the team make sense of the news, providing commentary and analysis on the stories that matter in politics, geopolitics, economics and culture.