Call it the perfect geopolitical storm: where protectionism meets isolationism.
The most frustrating and counterproductive aspect of the Trump Administration’s controversial tariff policies is that those countries most impacted are allies. Those we need for all kinds of reasons–from U.S. export markets to foreign-policy leverage. How weird that we seem to be getting along better with the renegade Kim Jong-un than with the respected Justin Trudeau.
Not nearly as affected, ironically, is China, which is no ally and no ethical trade partner. But it’s a de facto player in the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit. North Korean exports to China account for more than 90 percent of NK’s international trade, and China is known to have employed a wink-and-nod approach on refined petroleum products finding their way into NK. China matters as much as China wants to. And Trump knows it.
* Some traditional, American-export related jobs will inevitably be impacted by tariff retaliation. It’s unfortunate, but practically karmic, that Kentucky bourbon will be among them. Spin that one to the base, Mitch McConnell.
* You can tell a lot about a government policy by its opponents. It’s typically the usual, partisan crowd. This, to be sure, is not typical. From the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to GOP Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker to the Wall Street Journal, they stand in opposition to the Trump tariffs. They recognize the artifice of the deal.
* It hardly helps the FBI’s efforts to rally sentiment against Trump ridicule when one of their own makes headlines by accidentally shooting someone at a nightclub. The agent was dancing and doing a back flip when his service revolver fell from its holster, went off and wounded a patron at a Denver night spot. But, yes, he was off duty.
James Comey misses his old job less and less each day.