Was President Trump right to ban about $1 billion of Canadian goods, including Canadian whisky, in his latest trade retaliation?
A U.S. ban on roughly $1 billion of Canadian goods, including Canadian-made whisky, took effect as part of President Trump's latest round of trade retaliation against Canada.
Pointless, dangerous, and toweringly stupid. Trump is reordering world trade and isolating the US in the process. Our trading partners are finding new sources and new markets. The power of the dollar is eroding, our "exorbitant privilege" squandered and diminished. If one wished to damage a country in irreparable ways, Trump has provided the perfect playbook.
I'd call it a case of trying to shut the barn-door after the horse has left; the hollowing-out of the "Western" world's economy (not just US) has been generations in the making, and while maybe economic protectionism would've made sense decades ago, it's too little, too late. Scapegoating Donnie-Come-Lately for the betrayals of thousands over decades is a trap: He's added a new page or two, but this "perfect playbook" you speak of has been in the works since at least as far back as the '70s.
I embrace the economic concept of competitive advantage that was understood all the way back in David Ricardo's time. Yes, there are threats that come with ignoring advantages that are illusory. For instance nations that don't mind polluting air and water have what appears to be a competitive advantage but then we all end up paying for the debasement of the environment. You make points with some merit but I think you take a rather limited view of macroeconomics.
If you voted Yes: does it still hold up when the whisky tariff bumps your bar tab, or is that the point?