Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Who's really being cheated here?
Donald Trump says his tariff wars are to rebalance unfair trade agreements with the rest of the world. My heart bleeds for poor America, ‘cheated’ for decades by those fat cats in Asia!
Strange that, in spite of this, the US has long been the richest country in the world, while the millions of the East struggle to make a pitiful living in countless factories and sweatshops.
Mr Trump may think it desirable to repatriate this drudgery to the US but it is hard to imagine the American consumer thanking him for doubling the prices of Chinese goods in the shops.
Whether the terms of trade with the East are fair or not, the high standard of living in the US is sustained by the industry of underpaid Asians, and yet Mr Trump says his country is being cheated. Who is cheating whom Bernard Winchester, South Norwood
Is Trump accidentally saving the planet?
Possibly a controversial perspective but perhaps, with his tariffs seemingly designed to reduce globalisation, Trump might be the leader the world needs.
As it stands, global trade means that goods are made in countries where labour is cheaper, even if their environmental standards are questionable, and are then conveyed around the world.
The carbon footprint of this transportation must be enormous.
By encouraging local manufacture, the volume of greenhouse gases consumed will be massively reduced.
Likewise, people could return to eating seasonal fruit and vegetables, which would be hugely beneficial both for our diet and for our environment.
Fast fashion, meanwhile, would be consigned to the dustbin.
To be sure, global trade has broken down walls between nations, boosting fledgling economies, but it has also enriched tyrannical warmongers such as Vladimir Putin and rewarded the despotic, crushing and exploitative regime in China.
Clearly, globalisation has left many of us richer, by making a great number of products cheaper and more readily available but it has also had the consequence of making our world poorer.
If Trump is acting out of altruistic reasons, he may fairly expect his face to join those of other great leaders on Mount Rushmore. If his motivation transpires to be more nefarious, petty and vengeful, I’m quite sure his name will be remembered for plenitudinous other reasons… Julian Self, Wolverton
A Malaysian reader weighs in on the tariff war
In the weeks leading up to Trump’s tariff frenzy, as a Malaysian living in London, I am rather proud of my government’s response of advocating for dialogue and calling for all Malaysian industries to press on to increase productivity to improve our competitiveness.
As a developing country, Malaysians may not have reached the same maturity levels as the citizens of developed nations but we still have enough sense not to blame other countries for our inefficiencies or failings. We aspire to improve ourselves and are aware of the hard work and sacrifices the workers in those countries face daily. Efficiency is hard work.
By the way, I have enjoyed reading MetroTalk so much since I got here. Thank you to all the contributors – and great job, Metro! K Tay, London
Tariffs, Trump and a failing education system
Americans elected Trump because they thought he would be good for the economy.
They supported his tariff policy, even though punitive tariffs were debunked as a viable economic strategy a century ago and are still a very bad idea today.
They seemed to think that other countries paid the tariffs, rather than American companies and consumers – apparently their understanding of how tariffs work was pretty nonexistent.
It should come as no surprise that the US is sliding from democracy to dictatorship – a democracy relies on a well-educated, informed population.
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The sad truth is that the US education system is unfit for purpose, so much so that most Americans don’t know how to ensure their politics benefits themselves.
I’m not saying they don’t know what they need – they do – but they don’t know how to use their political system to get it.
Instead we see the same old story of a Western democracy being led astray by a sociopathic charlatan.
It serves as a grim warning to the rest of us – we need to be politically engaged and that starts with giving our children the best education. Ryan Cooper, London
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