Richard Heydarian writes that the US president’s ‘dangerous dalliance’ with China trade is ‘mindless posturing’ driven by emotions rather than policy
The great political theorist Ernesto Laclau once argued that populists rely on “empty signifiers”. As far as US President Donald Trump is concerned, his dangerous dalliance with a trade war is a classic case of mindless populist posturing bereft of substantive consideration of actual consequences.
By using the unilateral imposition of tariffs as an instrument of negotiation, Washington is setting a perilous precedent that further erodes the global trade regime. Given the centrality of a free and open flow of goods, technology and ideas to the whole post-second world war order, what is at stake is no less than international peace and stability.
Trump’s trade policy is inherent to his brand of populism, driven by instinct and emotions rather than conscientious policy deliberation. Populists often tend to make random, poorly thought-out policy statements, leaving crucial details to the imagination of their helpless technocrats and senior officials.
They tend to prioritise media mileage and audience impact over the long-term consequences of their policies and pronouncements. Moreover, they tend to undermine institutions, both local and international, in the hope of honing their cults of personality as strong and decisive leaders.
All three elements have been apparent in Trump’s trade war against both allies and rivals. His imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs hurt not only rivals such as China and Russia, but also treaty allies such as Japan and Turkey.
Yet, it’s China, the world’s second largest economy, which has the most to lose and, accordingly, vociferously has stood up to Trump. In recent weeks, Trump, citing alleged unfair trade practices, imposed new tariffs on more than 1,300 types of Chinese exports worth close to US$60 billion annually.
Earlier, he had imposed a 10 per cent additional tariff on aluminium and an extra 25 per cent duty on steel from overseas, citing national security considerations. His administration has since upped the ante by restricting investments by and technological cooperation with Chinese companies.
