Trade : Doubting Trump

(Foriegn Policy) As expected trade policy has dominated the Trump administrations approach to the worldbut seldom in a good way. The administration led by Tariff Man" Donald Trump has turned back the clock to the 1930s by throwing up a series of trade barriers with friends and rivals alike a tax thats borne mostly by American consumers. The decision to start and then escalate a trade war with China has hurt U.S. manufacturers and farmers. A year of tortured negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement which greatly strained relations with Canada and Mexico ended with an agreement that looks a lot like the original except where it cribbed from a Barack Obama-era trade pact the Trump administration previously killed. The deal still faces an uphill battle in Congress. And theres more to come: Even as the trade wars are weighing on global growth the administration is preparing its most sweeping (and most damaging) round of tariffs yet.