Abacus | Comment: Take protests about Trump’s protectionism with a pinch of salt
An informal summit with China is around the corner, and outrage about proposed US import tariffs will be in the spotlight – but concerns are overblown
When the Chinese and US presidents meet next weekend at Donald Trump’s “Southern White House” at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, both sides will play down the angry rhetoric of recent months, especially about trade.
The tensions will remain. If anything, Washington’s failure last month to repeal and replace Obamacare makes it more, not less, likely that the US administration will embrace tax changes its opponents regard as deeply protectionist and damaging to relations with America’s largest trading partners, especially China.
On examination, the criticisms are largely misguided. But that will do nothing to lessen the friction.
Quite how much Trump really cares that the Republican party’s proposed replacement for Obamacare failed to pass in the House of Representatives is debatable. During his campaign, he strongly suggested that he would have preferred a more socialised form of health care.
The advantage of the proposed bill to the White House was that it would have freed up fiscal resources to help fund a policy that the president really does care about: tax cuts that he believes will place him alongside Ronald Reagan as a pro-growth economic reformer.