Friends, having already pushed Russia out of their exclusive club (turning the G8 into the G7), now the global elite wants to give the U.S. the boot as well -- all because Trump has the unmitigated gall to stand up for the American worker and demand fairer trade terms. Well! I say Trump's attitude is a breath of fresh air, and my latest article explains why.
Read on!
Trump is Right: The G7 Needs a
Wake-Up Call on Trade
The recent meeting
of the “G7” leaders in La Malbaie, Quebec ended dramatically,
with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau harshly criticizing
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum and threatening to retaliate.
President Trump then instructed U.S. negotiators not to sign the
communique that was issued at the conclusion of the summit.
Predictably,
global elitists have reacted with the usual horror, and with
customary disdain for Trump. According to the New
York Times, we are
witnessing a “slow-rolling collapse” of our “fragile
alliances”. Trump is frivolously up-ending the global order, we are
told, and alienating countries that have traditionally been our
closest friends and partners. The talking heads may have backed off
on their threats of apocalyptic “trade wars” (perhaps because
strong economic growth rates and the ongoing buoyancy of the stock
market make their predictions of doom seem laughable), but they are
still clutching at the idea that we are witnessing a “fundamental”
shift in the prestige and influence of the United States, and a
steady worsening of our relationships with almost all civilized
countries. There is even talk that the G7 has become the “G6+1”
as the U.S. goes it alone.
The problem with
these arguments is that, first, they are entirely self-serving,
insofar as the global elite always chafes at the effrontery of
populists like President Trump, and it invariably seeks to defend its
own privileges and prerogatives by labeling all criticism of the
established international economic order “protectionist” or
“isolationist”. In fact, seldom do the elitists even bother to
address the substantive complaints made by Trump (and others like
him) about the unfairness of existing trade deals – they simply wag
their collective finger at anyone boorish enough to question the
present regime of “free trade”.
Trading
relationships ought to be susceptible to criticism and revision,
however, and, when the people of a sovereign state vote to empower a
new leader who embodies such criticism and reformist zeal, his
election should have consequences. The elite talks as if the
vicissitudes of something as shabby as democracy should not be
allowed to affect our sacred trade agreements. Nonsense!
To add insult to
injury, G7 members are actually targeting their retaliatory tariffs
against the United States on industries and enterprises concentrated
in states that voted for Donald Trump. In other words, they seek to
manipulate democracy itself and foster political headaches for those
who dare to question the world order. This is simply outrageous, and
it ought to raise the hackles of any American patriot.
Second,
the idea that President Trump is doing permanent damage to our
relations with our traditional allies flies in the face of a mountain
of evidence that Trump has formed productive, respectful working
relationships with numerous world leaders, from President Macron of
France to Prime Minister Abe of Japan. Moreover, we should keep in
mind that our ties with other powerful, wealthy nations are always
troubled by tensions and disagreements, and, in the post-WWII era as
a whole, many of these differences of opinion have been far more
serious and dangerous than the current spat over trade barriers. Lest
we forget, Messieurs Trump and Trudeau are currently duking it out
largely over the price of milk. It seems unlikely that U.S.-Canada
relations will be permanently scarred by so trivial a dispute.
Lastly, the
critique of Trump's performance at the G7 summit is misplaced because
Trump is actually doing both the American people and the citizens of
all the G7 nations a great service: he is drawing attention to the
deficiencies of past trade agreements – deficiencies that have in
many cases cost jobs, shuttered factories, and abetted many a
populist backlash against elitist economic manipulation. Trump does
so not because he wishes to curtail trade, but in order to build it
up on a sounder basis. Trump has made it abundantly clear that he
supports free trade, but not biased trade deals that require openness
on the part of some and allow tariff and non-tariff barriers for
others.
The truth is that
the leaders of the international economic order have long lived a
lie: they pantomime unfailing devotion to “free trade,” while at
the same time overtly and covertly carving out exceptions for their
preferred industries. The result is a half-hearted form of free trade
that rewards sly negotiation and punishes naive idealism. As Trump
suggests, all too often it is the United States that has been the
most naive, accepting a trading regime that institutionalizes massive
trade deficits and millions of lost jobs.
In 2014, the U.S.
had a $142 billion trade deficit with the countries of the European
Union, and a $35 billion deficit with Canada. Essentially no one
believes that this is because American companies can't compete with
their overseas rivals – it is instead manipulative, predatory trade
practices that explain the imbalance. Why, then, should the U.S. not
try to re-balance this equation in its own interests?
More
broadly, though, will it not benefit all
the nations concerned if
we find a new formula for trade that limits job losses and
de-industrialization, and that finds favor with voters anxious about
their economic futures? To achieve such a trading rapprochement, the
U.S. should even be willing to make concessions of its own. After
all, we too are sometimes guilty of using subsidies and non-tariff
barriers to insulate our industries from foreign competition. If G7
countries believe their own rhetoric about free trade, surely they
will be willing to meet us halfway and cooperate in the elimination
of surviving trade barriers...unless, that is, they prefer to thumb
their noses at Donald Trump on principle.
In
the end, for seeking the amelioration of a broken trading system,
Trump should not be seen as an enemy of the established order, but
rather as its would-be savior. His suggestion to his fellow leaders
in Quebec that he would ideally like to see the elimination of all
tariffs throughout the G7 economies is a testament to his dedication
to the principle of free trade, and his belief in the transformative
power of capitalist competition and development. The fact that Trump
is clear-eyed about the pressing need for reform in our trading
relationships makes him a realist, yes, but not the protectionist
boogeyman that the mainstream media, and its international
fellow-travelers, portray.
The truth is that
the global economic elite faces a choice: take Trump (and the tens of
millions of voters he represents) seriously, and repair and refit the
damaged infrastructure of “free trade,” or mock and ignore him,
insuring that the wave of economic resentment and protectionist
sentiment that has seemingly been cresting for years now will build
into a true tsunami.
In that case, the
global bigwigs may someday look back and say, “Donald Trump? He was
the least of our problems.”
