Trump’s economic cold war forces trade pragmatism from Australia
Australia should embed itself more deeply in Asia’s economic architecture as a supposedly more stable, reliable, and predictable partner to its neighbours.
If you believe Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the US president’s decision to pause reciprocal tariffs on all countries except China was the “strategy all along”. It’s a supposed example of Trump’s genius for deal-making while playing rope-a-dope with America’s great rival.
The real story is that Trump’s upending of the international economic order, coupled with plummeting global equities, brought the US to the brink of a bond market crisis. That dire prospect, combined with warnings from business leaders such as JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon about a recession, forced Trump to pull back.
Loading...
The Australian Financial Review’s succinct take on the principles at stake in major domestic and global stories – and what policy makers should do about them.
