Responses to Facebook chats.
DAMN! Donald Trump shakes the glade, indeed! I favor his foreign policy though but I didn't see the tariff quake and aid redo coming. But I see all these new dramas differently.
First, an impending (or happening?) spike in consumer products is what the world's top consumer market needs. Cut consumerism, uh huh. But we just bought a new 58" flat screen after my cat ruined my room TV and it is cheaper than the one that we bought 2 years ago! My friend and her son and grandchild just came home from a 1-week vacay in Florida. Discounts in their room accommodation? Did she just buy an electric bike with a trailer???
So what tariff hassle are we talking about? Yet 50 out of the 90+ countries hit by Trump tariffs seek a negotiation with the U.S. That is good. That's the gambit.
And I want my country, the Philippines, to renegotiate import/export deals and do away with the "aid" quid pro quo that only enhances corruption. But my friends are busier with election-related drama than with the tariff thriller.
OF course China will match the U.S. tariff. They are THE Chinese. They have been haggling and hawing since the Silk Road days. Sure, Mr Trump will get manufacturing back (though not per pre-1975 surplus) but not the 8,600+ American companies in China (who may even expand or cross to India).
But The D can lure foreign giants in. The U.S. is still #1 consumer market and marketing showroom with awesome endorsers. Early FDI negotiations are from South Korea's Hyundai, Taiwan's TSMC and Japan's SoftBank. ☮️☮️☮️
RESET the global order but not via wars but via trade which is China's expansionism tactic. Engage China in its own game. But of course Washington stays hot on military brinkmanship. There'll be no drama per shakeup of Defense budget's $840+ receipt but there'll be cuts in NATO share.
President Trump is selective who to take out per "enemies" as he prefers to save the taxpayer money that are usually wasted in bombastic military operations. Remember, he took out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Qasem Soleimani leading to the Doha Accords and the end of the Afghanistan war in his first term.
Example: Dare Iran to put a leash on Yemen's Houthis, to stop messing in the Red Sea. Iran will not wage war. Tehran's new moderate leadership wants the Strait of Hormuz unblemished for oil shipments to China, Tehran's top buyer. Iran needs to recover economically. Etc etcetera. ☮️☮️☮️