DIn American circuses, we call them the one trick ponies, these little horses, which have been trained for only one round, do not know how to make others, and in the end get tired of the public. The expression has become common to refer to the one whose talent repertoire is limited. Donald Trump is a little bit one pony trick of the world circus.
With each problem, he draws his customs tax. Too many German cars in the streets, Chinese goods in the shops, French wines on the tables … The United States of America being the largest importer in the world, the tool is indeed powerful to regulate world trade. But, by juggling taxes to settle political issues, we risk getting into trouble.
Small illustration: Donald Trump wants to break the loins of China, accused of having made the American factories disappear. For the past two years, he has been imposing tax packages on all the threatened activities he would like to see return to the country. It started with steel (taxed at 25%) and aluminum (10%) and intends to finish this month of December with electronic products, its first import item in value. As all countries are not equal, it grants exemptions. In the midst of the economic crisis, Brazil and Argentina are exempt.
Supreme paradox
The Chinese retort by taxing agricultural imports, especially American soybeans. As a result, Chinese buyers are logically referring to untaxed producers, in this case Brazil and Argentina, two very large world agricultural exporters. Faced with the distress of his peasants, Donald Trump spring his customs weapon by decreeing Monday, December 2, his two neighbors on the American continent would be taxed like the others on steel and aluminum. Officially, they are accused of devaluing their currency to make their exports even more advantageous. In fact, the currency rate reflects above all their particularly unstable political and economic situation.
Emotion on the world markets with this new escalation, which doubles as a targeted offensive against France, author of a unilateral tax targeting the digital giants (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon). But Donald Trump's offensive will not relieve American farmers.
It will precipitate Brazil and Argentina a little more in the arms of China and, supreme paradox, will not help American steelmakers. In the third quarter of this year, the US number one, US Steel, fell back into the red, announced new layoffs and shutdown facilities, particularly because of the difficulties of the automotive industry. The one pony trick The White House is tiring its audience by constantly creating new enemies.
