It is almost a month since the US presidential elections were held and the results declared a Trump and Republican victory. Since various staff announcements have been made and analysts have pointed to a common trend most of them are China hawks. This has put other countries into a strategic mode to counter any tariff actions post-Inauguration Day.
During the month, the President-elect announced pre-emotive tariff actions on certain countries such as Canada and Mexico. Over the weekend he had also warned BRICS+ that if de-dollarisation steps and narrative continues then heavy tariffs would be implemented. These announcements are similar to 2016 which triggered the first Global Trade War and we might be about to enter the second.
Critical to these strategies Scott Bessent was chosen as Treasury Secretary over others. This is the department that is critical for a trade war. And by this selection, it means that business will not be as usual. The same view is shared by one of the most important people in the 2024 elections, Elon Musk.
The element of surprise in 2016 was much higher and stronger as the election results and policy actions were first-of-kind. But this time around, some countries have already devised some level of counters, and some are in strategy mode.
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