PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKING THE TARIFF/TRADE WAR UP ANOTHER NOTCH

Written by Michael Thervil

Andrew Harnik, Getty Images via AFP

Taking the international trade war up a notch, American President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on all imported agricultural goods and products from every country in the world. Before we get into the entry, we have to remind you that the only people that will pay for the price increase on agricultural products in America will be the people that live in America. For many Americans this sounds like an oxymoronic action taken on by President Donald Trump. But for both insiders within the Trump Administration and for Economists, they understand that the step that the President Trump’s in terms of implementing tariffs on foreign agricultural products is needed in order to “shock” the American agricultural system for burning all cylinders in order to put America back on track to being self-sufficient. However, in doing so, President Trump actions has forced other countries to do the same, but his actions will also increase the value of the American dollar when compared to other world currencies.

Again, even though American citizens will be the one to pay for the higher cost of groceries, the people that make up the international community will be paying yet a different price. The price that they will to pay will come in the form of decreased GDP within the borders of their respective countries. What this means is that countries that wish to do export their agricultural goods and products into America will have to pay a higher price to do so. For those countries, it means not only will their government have to pay higher export taxes, but those governments will have to pass those taxes down to their citizens in a trickle-down economic effect. Remember, no government in any form can pay taxes or pay for anything else for that matter – only people can pay taxes.

The tariff war that the Trump Administration has embarked on has seemed to morph into another type of war – and that is an all out economic trade war. But There are two things different about this trade war from the previous ones that have been going on. The first thing is that the world has changed from a unipolar war to a multipolar one – as countries all over the world have decided to diversify their portfolio on everything from international commerce and trade to strengthening their diplomatic relationships with countries that they may not have considered before.

Secondly, the world has changed in the aspect that since the world has become a multipolar world since America's reaction to Russia’s forced special military operations Ukraine – countries that make up the international community are in the position to fight back and retaliate against America when they deem that America has overstepped its boundaries. In this case, for those countries that perceive that the boundaries that America has overstepped have come in the form of excessive tariffs on the world markets. As a ramification of countries in the international community, they have decided to rally together and boycott the entire exportation of American goods, products, and possibly American services.

This can be seen with Canadian citizens' recent protest that resulted in them banning together to stop the flow of commercial air traffic, the refusal to purchase machinery and other manufactured goods, products and services (such as Amazon) from America. Another example would be China, increasing their tariffs towards American goods and products as well as refusing to export rare and critical earth metals into America. This is monumental in the aspect that the unbalancing of the scales of international trade will more than likely cause a rip tide that could result in the entire restructuring of the socio-economic world order. For some it already has by at least 10 years ago- but many people, specifically Americans are really just starting to feel the effects in the form of economic hardships.

With President Trump's notion of putting America first, some are wondering if America can actually be first again since the change from a unipolar world to a multipolar one has taken place. Geopolitical pundits the world is watching as the tariff now trade war is unraveling before all of our very eyes. One credit that President Trump has to be given is that he understands that America has to put itself in the position to make, grow, and produce its own goods and products.