A file image of US president Donald J. Trump. (Photo: @realDonaldTrump/X)
As things unfold, more and more the feeling has grown among the international community that US President Donald Trump's tantrums regarding his nation being taken advantage of by all countries in matters of trade, and his threats to impose enormous tariffs upon them, had been full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
It may be recalled that he had called March 2 a historic "liberation day" for America, and announced a slew of sky-high tariffs on each and every trading partner, which threatened to wreak havoc upon the global economic order! With most of the international community vowing not to bow down to what they considered to be an unjust hike in tariff rates, a global no-holds-barred trade war appeared to be in the offing-the markets had reacted negatively, and investors lost billions of dollars.
Indeed, if he had truly felt that the US was a victim of unfair trade practices, he could have had his officials engage in trade talks on a bilateral basis and thrashed out more equitable deals. But the showman that he is, Trump chose to put on a circus, causing chaos in the international financial order. However, the fallouts worked against him, and he was compelled to back off due to increased domestic pressures, with even some of his diehard supporters having to concede that their idol was fuelling inflation in America rather than containing it!
The most telling comedown on Trump's part has been China, which he considered to be the biggest offender, making his fight with that nation the most intense. His import taxes on goods from China included a 20 per-cent tariff unless China stopped the flow of fentanyl into the US, and upped the total tariffs on some Chinese goods to exceed 145 percent.
The international community had feared that the trade war with these two giant economies would be devastating, but, in reality, it turned out to be a storm in a teacup.
On Monday, the US and China agreed to drastically roll back tariffs on each other's goods for an initial 90-day period, in a break-through that has de-escalated a potentially punishing trade war and buoyed global markets.
The US agreed to drop its 145 per cent tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30 per cent, while China agreed to lower its rate on US goods by the same amount to 10 per cent. Both sides issued a joint statement recognising "the importance of a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship."
Naturally enough, even now, Trump has not ceased his bluster, asserting that tariffs would "go up substantially higher" if a comprehensive deal isn't reached within 90 days, though it is doubtful that his threats would evoke much concern now that the world has understood how hollow they are!