When Trump threatened Brazil with punishing tariffs on Wednesday, there was no fancy mathematical equation trotted out this time as justification.
The 50% levy on goods was retribution for a perceived “witch hunt” against his political ally, Jair Bolsanaro, whose supporters attempted a coup two years ago.
This administration is bringing back the law of the jungle to international trade, according to trade expert Kristen Hopewell, and time is running out to salvage the remains of a post-war system of commerce that promoted stability and prosperity across the world.
“Trump is a totally unreliable negotiating partner,” she tells Fortune. “Any deal you strike with the administration is not worth the paper it’s written on.”
'Not worth the paper their printed on…" well, if that’s the case, no one in the world will want to do business with the US right? I mean, is this article insinuating that the US doesn’t have any power?
want to? i think most people want to, but if you come to a deal and then mango Mussolini has a tantrum then it’s out the window and there will be some sort of retribution, and then if you decide to scrap the deal there will likely be more so you’re in a worse case than if you’d made no deal at all
deals are built on trust, and the US has no trust left any more… that’s kinda the point: the US is entirely where it is on the world stage because of post-war trust and stability. the power of the US is given to it by its allies… throwing all that out didn’t just prove that trump is untrustworthy and unstable, but that the world was wrong to place trust in the stability of the entire system that the US is built on. watch how well that system fares when all the power collapses because without everyone paying deference, that power is non-existent