Balls to the Wall
CRY MOAR
The White House announcement yesterday threw the rulebook out the window. The Trump administration is set to impose tariffs under a flimsy national security pretext that flouts if not the rules then at least the widely-shared norms of the WTO. It has further launched a free-for-all negotiating process in which its trading partners are now expected to come to the White House hat in hand begging for exemptions, a clear violation of the understanding that trade will be conducted under internationally agreed rules, not ad hoc negotiations.