Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

One of the things the Trump Administration has done an awfully good job on is, with the so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” annoying pretty much the rest of the world.

Somehow there is a notion that by alienating other countries — even, or especially, those that have long been our allies — this somehow makes America Great. 

Yes, the narrative seems to be, although it is never really articulated in any coherent way, that America Alone is America Better, and if those other countries want to do business with America, they they’d better be ready to pay for the privilege.

Of course, there is the non-trivial issue that if you want to buy a BMW that is built in Germany, then you want to buy it. Should BMW have to pay extra for the opportunity that you have created? 

BMW doesn’t pay extra. The German government doesn’t pay extra. You do. At present the tariff on a vehicle from Germany is 15%, which the Trump Administration once suggested would be 30%. While that may seem the Administration is more “reasonable,” should you go to your local BMW dealer and see that the price of that 3 Series is higher than expected, know that pre-Trump the tariff on that vehicle was 2.5%.

And this is the same situation for a variety of other products from other countries. 

Like coffee and orange juice in the morning? Well, a considerable amount of both come from Brazil. There is a 50% tariff on those products, just as there is on products from India, which range from clothing to pharmaceuticals. Like Swiss chocolate? There is a 39% tariff on Switzerland. 

(Here’s something to consider: the purported reason for the tariffs is to bring more manufacturing back to the US. By definition it is impossible to produce Swiss chocolate in the US. So how is that going to work out for your favorite Toblerone fan?)

Now that summer is behind us, the Christmas displays will soon be evident in stores across the country.

Although the threatened 145% tariff on goods from China has been reduced to 30%, come Christmas, the words of President Trump on Meet the Press in May are going to have some resonance during the forthcoming shopping season: “I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs — that’s 11 years old — needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls. . . .” He, of course, is prone to exaggeration, or perhaps he is referring to his ultra-rich friends, so the 30 dolls is probably just for effect. But what won’t be for effect is when someone is shopping for a doll at Walmart — not for three or four, just one — and discovers that the one they wanted to buy for their child is too expensive, so they have to opt for a lesser one.

Great, right?

One thing that should be concerning for those who somehow imagine the US can go it alone in the world is the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

There, the leaders of China, Russia, India, and other non-Western countries got together to talk modifying the world order.

The countries represented by the organization represent 42% of the world’s population.

Consider this: India has a population of 1.46 billion people. China 1.41 billion.

The EU is at 450 million.

The US 347 million.

Combining the populations of the EU and the US gets to 797 million, short of the Chinese population and well short of the Indian population.

To be sure, the US still has the largest GDP in the world ($30.51 trillion) and even China ($19.23 trillion) and India ($4.19 trillion) combined ($23.42 trillion) are well behind the US — for now. The US economy’s growth rate is less than that of China, so at some point. . . .

Meanwhile, there’s Vladimir Putin. According to Reuters, “In an image designed to convey a mood of solidarity, Putin and Modi [the Indian prime minister] were shown holding hands as they walked jovially towards Xi [Chinese president] before the summit opened.”

Putin reportedly said at the meeting, "This security system” — as in Russia and China — "unlike Euro-centric and Euro-Atlantic models, would genuinely consider the interests of a broad range of countries, be truly balanced, and would not allow one country to ensure its own security at the expense of others.”

So here we have representatives of countries that are not necessarily friends of the US (Trump’s claims of personal relations notwithstanding) who are collaborating to make themselves more well-oriented for a modified world order.

What does the US do?

Puts a 35% tariff on Canada.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.