There is good news and bad news about US President Donald Trump. The good news is he has not initiated a military war, apart from bombing a few empty tarmacs in Syria. The bad news is he is setting the world alight with his economic war.
The globe is being split into two, with Australia nervously sitting between the two sides: America and China. At least we have a trade deficit with America so are not an immediate target. But we might want to consider becoming more self-sufficient and broadening our industrial base.
The list of countries Trump is targeting with sanctions, tariffs or threats is impressive. The trade war with China is intensifying. Given that a substantial slice of America's industry base is located there, this must be seriously concerning for corporate America, especially a company like Apple. The ban on the Chinese tech giant Huawei may ultimately split the world's digital infrastructure into two camps, especially if Huawei decides to develop its own operating system.
Trump has ended India's designation as a developing nation, which allowed it to export over 2000 products duty free. Japan is being threatened with tariffs on its automobile exports. Europe has been subjected to tariffs, with more coming.
That is how the allies or neutrals are being treated. The enemies are being hit with sanctions. Iran is the main target, and America is taking aim at any 'allies' who don't comply. When Europe decided to remain in the nuclear agreement with Iran after America pulled out, a new exchange, INSTEX, was established to allow transactions.
America's response? Threatening to block European access to SWIFT, the telecommunications architecture for international finance and the primary vehicle for the global domination of the US dollar. America is also demanding that Germany stop the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline being laid from Russia under the Baltic Sea — to force Germany to take more expensive American gas instead. A bill to sanction any company involved in Nord Stream 2 is being prepared by the US Congress.
Another war front is America's siege of Venezuela, which is nothing more than a flagrant grab for the world's largest oil reserves. Public enemy number one, Russia, is also subject to extreme sanctions, but the effect there is mixed. According to Oliver Bullough in his book Moneyland, about half Russia's net wealth is offshore. A lot of that money is going back before it is acquired by