By Philip Yeung
"Tariff" is Trump's most beautiful word
In Trump's tiny dictionary, "tariff" is the most beautiful word in the English language. But in his mouth, it sounds ugly, and in his hand, it has become a dirty weapon.
Who is panicking now: US or China?
Two days after he declared a tariff war on the world, China has counterpunched with retaliatory levies, prompting Trump to post this all-caps message on his Truth Social: "China played it wrong. They panicked—the one thing they cannot afford to do."
In truth, it is Trump who panicked. Psychiatrists call this typical "projection". The owner of six failed enterprises, Trump has bankrupted every business he owned. After losing his shirt in his casinos, this universal tariff war is his biggest gamble. He may be credited with the biggest bankruptcy by trashing the world economy. He doesn't know that "tariffs are a boomerang"—they always come back to bang the country that fools around with them. As for the Chinese, they are numb to non-stop US tariffs and sanctions.
The dollar is diving, the markets are melting
The results of Trump's actions are almost immediate. Americans are panic-buying. The stock markets are in meltdown. The dollar is diving. But Trump insists that the markets are booming, the economy is booming and the country is booming. He is, as usual, living in an alternative universe, and spouting his alternative truth. He is either a liar or a scammer or both.
"My policies will never change." Really?
In a matter of days, even long-time allies have hit back with painful countermeasures, with Japan, Italy, and Canada pummeling America hard on its exports. Trump swears that his "policies will never change." But his on-again, off-again, tariffs against Canada and Mexico tell us that he has butterflies in his stomach.
America's Golden Age?
He calls this the Americans' Golden Age. Yet all they see are prices skyrocketing, and affordability becoming a livelihood issue. In the face of worsening inflation, he is incongruously pressuring the chairman of the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and "stop playing politics", when it is him who is playing politics with American prosperity.
China plays the long game. Trump plays the short game
Trump plays the short game and always plays to the cameras. The Chinese, by contrast, are famous for playing the long game. This time, they are no longer turning the other cheek. Besides matching Trump 34% tariffs tit-for-tat, China has added 10 US business entities to the Unreliable List and is curbing the export of critical rare earths. Trump may think he is wrong-footing competitors with his "madman strategy", by leveraging his unpredictability. But the Chinese have found their footing.
TikTok as bargaining chip
In China's case, Trump is trying to use TikTok as a bargaining chip, pressuring the Chinese to sell Tik Tok, in exchange for lowering the tariffs. This is undisguised highway robbery, making a mockery of international rules and castrating international agencies such as the WTO. But China is prepared to play hardball and let the chips fall where they may.
Trump belongs to the outer space
Trump's bullying tariffs have sent the markets into a tailspin, with the DOW losing 1600 points in one day and 2231 points the next. Trump had famously said that if the DOW sheds 1000 points in a single day, the sitting president should be sent to the sun by rocket. Now his words have come back to bite him. I hope his super-fan Elon Musk will do him the honor and send him on a one-way trip to outer space. Trump is other-planetary. He is better up there than down here.
The stock market enters bear territory
Trump's disastrous moves spell the end of the era for the globalized economy. Some economists call this "the single biggest action of our lifetime". While Trump promises to unshackle the US economy, he has inflicted higher inflation and slower growth on his country. The NASDAQ has already officially entered the bear market territory, having lost over 20% of its value in a matter of days.
The art of the deal, the Chinese way
The Chinese see through Trump's tricks. They have opted to bypass negotiations, so as not to give him the upper hand. They refuse to go to Trump hat-in-hand. Instead, the Chinese have gone for the jugular, slapping reciprocal tariffs a week before the higher tariffs take effect. Let him first feel the pain and then make him crawl back to the bargaining table.
Golfing while Wall Street burns
On the day of the market's biggest rout, Trump has gone golfing, mouthing that "only the weak will fail". Now it looks like "only the foolish will perish". The Chinese's traditional curse on their worst enemy is: "May you live in interesting times." Unfortunately, the Trump time is our worst curse.
Who, I wonder, will laugh last? It's too early to tell.
Who is the paper tiger now? It isn't the Chinese.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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