Trump's Trade Turmoil

March 17, 2025

key points from this story:

• Trump causes trade chaos.
• No clear trade plan exists.
• Trump supports Russia.
• Trade wars harm citizens.
• U.S. abandons democracy role.
• Trump's actions are divisive.

While you might make a credible argument that common sense has never been a primary factor in terms of world trade, with Donald Trump in the president’s office in the United States the ridiculous is clearly at the forefront of world trade. What Trump has done in his first couple of months in power is throw trade into a blender of turmoil, and the prospect is for things to likely get far worse before he is done. It would be less disconcerting if one could see a plan in what Trump is doing – a goal he has in terms of an endgame – but unless you want to start to speculate in the realm of conspiracy – his goal seems little more focused than creating absolute chaos. The scary element here is that as recently as the American election most would have doubted the storm cloud Trump would be to trade and frankly most elements of American life too – with even the most gloomy of prognosticators likely falling short of the already realized reality. And that has to leave most shuddering at what comes next?