Tariffs and protest – Trump “strategies”? – Association of European Journalists

Protests and tariffs. Attacks on the media. Dismantling of U.S. government agencies and programs. Ceasefires promised in Ukraine and Gaza but not implemented.
The litany of U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions – 20 official pages of “executive orders” listing them as of 9 April.

There have been multiple attempts to explain, analyse, and decipher his challenges to democratic norms in the USA and his overturning of the global order of international relations, wars, and trade.
Especially when he imposed sweeping tariffs on much of the world on April 2 and a week later stopped nearly all of them after turmoil on the stock markets and interest rises in the bond markets.

Does he have a plan or a strategy?
Will it “make America great again”?
Is he just positioning himself for a third term as president, prohibited by the American Constitution?
Will American voters support him?

His allies and supporters variously justify:
his sweeping tariffs as necessary to solve the USA’s deficit problem, protect and build jobs and the economy, and reverse trade globalisation and dependence on international trade routes;
his reversal of nearly all those tariffs on April 9 as part of the plan all along;
his attacks on the media as an overdue correction to reflect new ways that Americans get information particularly via social media, and to counter alleged “overreach” by reporters;
his slashing of government programs and agencies via Elon Musk as necessary “efficiencies” to save money;
his “ceasefires” to bring peace to the world.

Others see it differently – a massive attack on the world trade order and globalisation, a wider overturning of the global rules-based order we have known for the past 80 years which damages both the world and America’s image in it, and a dangerous challenge to democratic norms in the USA and their structure – the historic balance of powers between the executive, Congress, and the judiciary.

On April 2 Trump took arguably his biggest action in announcing import tariffs of at least 10% on all goods imported into the USA from many countries and much higher tariffs on about 60 specific countries – but none on Ukraine neighbours Russia and Belarus, nor North Korea and Cuba.
Stock markets around the world fell sharply with drops of 5% or more on each of the two days following Trump’s announcement and were again volatile at the start of the following week, wiping an estimated 5 trillion dollars or more off market value in the worst week for many markets since the covid pandemic in 2020.
Publicly, Trump remained defiant in defence of his tariffs even boasting to a Republican committee dinner on April 8 that many countries were calling him and “kissing my ass… dying to make a deal”.
The next day he reversed his position and paused nearly all the tariffs for 90 days to a “baseline” of 10% except the ones on China, which had retaliated strongly. His treasury secretary claimed “this was his strategy all along” while his press secretary claimed the world had “missed the art of the deal” behind Mr Trump’s reversal.
The reversal came after growing warnings – even from some close advisers – about sharp sell-offs in US government bond markets, raising the cost of American government borrowing, and questions about what is usually regarded as a safe haven for investors, especially during stock market falls and times of turmoil.
Trump himself said he’d noticed the bond markets were “queasy” and investors were “getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid”.
Immediately after his reversal, bond interest rates moved lower and American stock markets soared, followed by Asian and European markets into the next day. Then the American markets lost towards half their previous day gain.
And the value of the American dollar plunged over concerns about growth.

The Trump tariffs also fueled discussion about realigning free trade relationships with both Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and former UK treasury minister Jim O’Neill both suggesting the need to realign trade among countries that still want to preserve and encourage international trade as we have known it – a trade alignment that could include the UK, Canada, the EU and the Commonwealth as well as India and possibly even China. Carney was governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England; O’Neill is a former chief economist for Goldman Sachs.

Some countries retaliated to the tariffs immediately – China first with 34% tariffs to match the USA charges and within days of tit-for-tat moves rising to 125% on American goods effective on April 12 with USA tariffs of 145% on Chinese products.
Some said they would not retaliate and Trump officials claimed 50 countries, then 75, had approached the administration about negotiating lower tariffs or non-tariff trade barriers.
Some, including the UK, introduced internal measures to try to offset the damage from tariffs and protect their industries and businesses. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has telegraphed an expected reset in economic policy and support for specific businesses even though the UK was spared from tariffs higher than the 10% baseline.
Some kept their plans in reserve.

And individual businesses around the world urgently tried to adjust. In the UK, luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover – hit with 25% tariffs on April 3 – said it would suspend shipments to the USA for the moment. Japanese games maker Nintendo said it will not open its latest Switch 2 machine for orders from the USA following a 24% tariff on goods from Japan.

In the USA on April 5 thousands of people held street protests in cities and towns across all 50 American states and around the world against many of Trump’s actions, protests with a variety of motivations and goals all opposed to the president.
Some protestors carried Ukrainian flags while others had “Free Palestine” signs.
Some opposed the tariffs. “They’re just, in my opinion and the opinion of a lot of people, going about it the wrong way,” said one protester. “And it’s going to cost – it’s going to cost the farmers in the red states. It’s going to cost people their jobs… people have lost tens of thousands of dollars.”
Some were simply deeply critical of the president. “I believe Donald Trump is trying to tear our country down,” said one. “He’s ruining infrastructure, government departments, destroying our economy. We have to stand up and take our country back”.

Recent polling of American public opinion and some recent election results in Wisconsin and Florida may – or may not – indicate a slide in support for Trump and some of his issues.

Two months as president have given Trump more room to push his attempts to conflate fake news with traditional journalism – and thus potentially confuse the public about what to believe.
And Trump himself has confirmed that he’s considering running for a third term as president despite the Constitution, reinforcing earlier comments and echoing the words of his former chief strategist and longtime alt-right promoter Steve Bannon. Trump made his comment on March 30 after Bannon told the right-wing NewsNation television channel on March 19 that he and others are working on ways for Trump to seek a third term:
“We’re working on it. I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives. We’ll see what the definition of term limit is.”
Trump has already signed another executive order seeking to overhaul elections and threatening to pull federal funding from states that don’t comply – an order likely to be challenged because states have broad authority to set their own election rules. And Trump has a long history of disputing elections when he loses, especially the false claim that he was cheated out of a win in 2020.

On the global stage there have been some interpretations that suggest he has a longer-term goal to address a perceived threat from China – even though his apparent current focus has been on purported attempts to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Protest
‘Democracy not dictatorship’ – The Wall Street Journal April 5
Mass protests across the country – The New York Times April 5
Anti-Trump protests – BBC April 6
How to stand up to Trump – New York Times editorial April 6
Election results in Wisconsin and Florida a warning sign for Trump? – AP April 2
Major poll on Trump issues – AP March 31
American poll tracking

Trump third term?
Trump says he’s considering running again for president – March 30
Trump phones NBC
Trump signs order to overhaul elections – March 25
Steve Bannon says Trump will run again in 2028
Steve Bannon interview on NewsNation – March 19
Is Trump’s executive order on elections legal? – New York Times
How might Bannon make a third term happen – The Hill
How Trump spread 2020 election lies – U.S. House of Representatives report – 21 December 2022
Fear in America – Llewellyn King, AEJ honorary member
Trump’s revenge – New York Times April 7
Trump tries to concentrate power – NBC
Trump attacks the media
White House list of presidential actions

Trump and the world
The Atlantic publishes secret attack plans in Trump administration Signal chat – March 26
The cost of betrayal – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian academic and former political leader and UK commentator – The Washington Spectator March 12
America is losing its sense of mission – Llewellyn King, AEJ honorary member
“Kyiv is collateral in Trump’s showdown with Xi” – Roger Boyes, The Times – pdf version
Why Trump seeks fast ceasefire in Ukraine – BBC James Lansdale
Military briefing to Elon Musk on top-secret US military plans for potential war with China called off – New York Times
Pentagon to probe leaks to NYTimes, Musk threatens leakers
DOGE cuts leave a vacuum for China to fill – New York Times
Trump’s China Strategy – The Washington Times
Trump’s China strategy – The Hill
Trump v. Putin: “a masterclass in The Art of the Kneel” – Simon Walters, the Independent – pdf version
Trump blows up the world order – Allan Little, BBC
Trump and Southeast Asia – Chatham House
White House list of presidential actions

Tariffs and protest – Trump “strategies”?

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