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Trump’s tariffs – the shocks and the after-effects
While the immediate impact is disastrous, the US president’s actions could lead more nations to seek greater trading stability by refocusing their economies towards each other and countries such as China, writes ROGER McKENZIE
GLOBAL ANGER: Indians burn a US flag at a protest against Trump’s tariffs in New Delhi, India, April 5 2025

ECONOMICS is known in some quarters as the dismal science and is often presented as an overly complicated set of facts, figures and formulas.

In reality it’s an analysis of the choices that individuals, businesses, governments and nations make to allocate resources and, it must be said, to exert political power. Through it we can analyse the impact of class and the class struggle.

I am not any sort of economist — as I’m sure some reading this will be quick to agree. But even I can see that the trade tariffs that United States President Donald Trump has just slapped on the world are utterly ridiculous.

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Washington’s tariff policies become explicable in light of the US economy’s relative decline and the astonishing rise of China, argues MICHAEL BURKE