Trump’s Created “Complete Chaos, He Has No Plan; He’s Impulsive & Wants to Be Centre of Attention”

5 days ago 13

Trump's created "complete chaos, he has no plan; he's impulsive and wants to be centre of attention": Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times, to Karan Thapar for The Wire .......................................... One of the world’s most highly regarded voices on the economy, the Chief Economics Commentator of the Financial Times, Martin Wolf, says President Trump has created “complete chaos” adding “he has no plan … I have given up trying to rationalize Trump”. Mr. Wolf says Trump is “a man of impulse … he wants to be the centre of attention”. He adds Trump “does not mind if there is chaos”. In a 30-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Mr. Wolf, who was speaking by Zoom from London, said it was quite possible that after the present 90-day reprieve on reciprocal tariffs ends they will be brought back, perhaps selectively, for many countries. Mr. Wolf believes it’s impossible for America to negotiate deals with as many as 200 countries in 90-days. Mr. Wolf also said that you can’t rule out the possibility that if the European Union and America do not come to an agreement, the European Union could expand the trade war to cover American services and also impose levies on US digital companies. Ursula von der Leyen has already threatened this in a recent interview with Mr. Wolf’s paper, The Financial Times. Mr. Wolf said it was inevitable that the trade war between the US and China – particularly if the European Union joins in – will have an adverse impact on the rest of the world. As he put it, when elephants fight it’s the grass and the ants that suffer. I will stop there. There is a lot that Mr. Wolf has said that you should hear for yourself. He is, as I mentioned earlier, probably the most highly regarded international voice on economics and you will learn a lot from his analysis and understanding of the developing situation, both US versus China and what it means for the rest of the world. To help you, I will give you the main question that were put to Mr. Wolf. Here they are: 1) Did Trump blink and retreat? What a commentator in your paper the Financial Times calls “clear cut capitulation”? Or is this part of a well-thought out negotiating strategy and a coherent plan to isolate China, as Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, has claimed? Which of the two? 2) Why do you believe Trump blinked? Is it because Japan and, possibly, China were selling treasury bonds which created panic in the financial market? Is it because, as the Washington Post suggests, Republican Senators expressed concern? Or as Politico Magazine suggests was it fear that a possible recession could affect political support and damage Republican prospects in the mid-term elections? What do you believe is the best explanation? 3) I’ll come to China in a moment’s time, but as far as the rest of the world is concerned do you believe the threat of reciprocal tariffs will revive in 90-day’s time? Or do you believe trade deals and general negotiation will allay that threat? Or do we have no idea either way? 4) Let’s come to the US – China situation. First America imposed 145% tariffs on China and China in return imposed 125% tariffs on America. But late on Friday night Trump exempted 20 product categories from tariffs and they include major exports from China such as iPhones, computers, laptops, hard drives. Is this a second round of backing down? 5) Who do you believe will lose more from the US-China clash? The BBC says that for every five goods China sells to the US, the US only sells one to China. Does that suggest that China has more to lose? Or is the real loser the American consumer who depends on China for a range of products from microwaves to washing machines to shoes and even toys? 6) Now we don’t know whether Trump will impose more tariffs on China If he does, China has said it won’t increase tariffs further but it’s left open the possibility of other forms of retaliation. What do you think those could be? Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join

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