If Donald Trump really imagined that the US would be an easy and quick victor in a trade war (with, it would seem, just about everybody) he is in for a rude awakening. International trade deals and multi-national WTO (or its predecessor GATT- the General Agreement on Trades and Tariffs) are complicated affairs which often take years to complete (Brexiters please note!). They require give an take, detailed legal drafting, consideration of non-tariff barriers and the protection of certain vested interests in the home nation. The Trump mantra seems to be that despite being the world’s largest economy and having a critical seat at all the tables where US interests are involved, previous presidents, their advisors and bureaucrats have, to put it politely, sold the USA down the river. Now, the whole world deals unfairly with the USA which, in the President’s opinion, is evidenced by the trade imbalances (in goods) that the USA has with many nations.
Other nations take a completely different view to that of the current US presidential incumbent and have either referred the USA to trade resolution tribunals at WTO (which are legally binding) or retaliated with tariffs of their own – or both.
One sector targeted by other nations has been the USA’s agricultural export sector. The USA has announced $12billion in subsidies to its farmers to help with unsold crops amongst other things.
The USA hopes to persuade other nations to “remove barriers to trade” and allow free-trade, but this is a misunderstanding of the situation. For instance EU law prevents the importation of American beef because hormones are used to produce extra growth and chicken since carcasses are washed in dilute bleach (chlorinated chickens) – for the EU, these are not free-trade questions, but rather non-tariff barriers related to health standards, as such, the EU will not yield on such a demand as it wants to protect the well-being of its citizens and is unconvinced that the American standards are acceptable.
Roughly one fifth of American agricultural produce is exported. The price for a key export to China, soybeans has fallen by 15% since the first skirmishes in April when China announced its response to steel and aluminium tariffs.
The president’s actions have many critics at home and even in his own party: "Time and time again I've heard from farmers that they want trade, not aid. Instead of throwing money at a problem we've helped create, the better option is to take action to make it easier for our farmers — and manufacturers — to sell their goods at fair prices to consumers around the world," according to Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin.