There is much in international trade that can and should be criticized. However, blowing up an international trading system, negotiated over decades by hordes of delegates, and very carefully thought out – just because he wants to, is madness. Suddenly raising tariffs to 50 percent by an executive order is pure madness. Are imports of goods a threat to US national security?
However, if Trump says it’s a national emergency, it is, because he is… well what? An autocratic 17th-century king? What he says is the law and he punishes those who disobey.
The United States, despite its democratic flaws, has been a leader of the so-called free world, but is now transforming into something it has never been before: the world-leading nation that can no longer be trusted.
