Commentary
Shortly after Donald Trump took office, I recall Washington Times political commentator Charles Hurt discussing Trump’s habit of announcing something he was planning to introduce, and the resulting backlash it often generated.
He went on to explain how people just don’t understand how the president operates, how he’s always prepared to negotiate. “They’ve never taken the time to read, The Art of the Deal.”
I wonder, too, how many of those lazy journalists, critical of his actions, have looked at the report on Foreign Trade Barriers, he waved in the air during his Liberation Day speech. The 397-page report is an encyclopedia list of countries’ policies and regulations it regards as trade barriers.
“No American president in modern history has recognized the wide-ranging and harmful foreign trade barriers American exporters face more than President Trump,” said U. S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. “Under his leadership, this administration is working diligently to address these unfair and non-reciprocal practices, helping restore fairness and put hardworking American businesses and workers firsts in the global market.”
Trump’s speech on tariffs he would be placing on “bad actor” counties was simply his opening salvo. By Thursday, aboard Air Force One, he was telling reporters he was open to reducing tariffs if nations were able to offer something “phenomenal.”
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he said, “every country has called us.
“I think our markets are going to boom. Got to give it a chance, got to give it a little bit of time.”
However, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal isn’t wavering on its opinion of tariffs, referring to the manner in which the White House calculated the tariff rates on individual countries “bizarre” and “slapdash.”
The Journal did cut him some slack in its Best of the Web digital column, saying, “If the goal is to force foreign governments to allow their people to enjoy American products, then he can score some quick wins now and create the incentive for more market-opening victories in the future.”
China is retaliating by threatening to impose added tariffs of 34 percent on all American products, and the German automaker, Volkswagen, has told its dealers it plans to add on an import fee to the price of imported cars sold in the United States.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has signaled an interest in dropping tariffs on U.S. goods entirely if a deal can be struck. And Japan and South Korea are looking to negotiate lower tariffs, rather than retaliate.
General Motors plans to expand production of one of its plants in Indiana, a light-duty truck facility in Fort Wayne.
Stay tuned.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
