The Real Reasons Why Trump’s Breakthrough Trade Agreement with England is so Important
There is no book that defines President Trump more than the Art of the Deal. Whether in politics or real estate, what has made the President more successful than any other ability is his negotiating prowess. Trump in the last 5 years has gotten the USMCA deal done, the Step 1 act passed, major tax reform legislation signed, and agreements that secured the border with Mexico and Canada. While Obama talked and Biden slept, Trump has consistently gotten important domestic and international deals done for the American public. The President’s recent landmark trade agreement with England is just another example of Trump delivering for the American people.
The President’s agreement with England on the face of things does not look like a major deal. The US actually has a trade surplus with our ally of 11.9 billion, and England is also not part of the EU, so the US negotiations with this country were simply bilateral. Still, this trade deal is important for multiple reasons. America has a nearly $236 billion dollar trade deficit with the EU, and the country has a trade deficit of nearly $295 billion with China. Europe and the Chinese need American markets far more than the US needs to trade them. The real importance of the deal that the US reached with England is that this agreement creates more pressure on other countries and economic unions such as the EU to negotiate with the US. This deal also sets up a general framework for future negotiations as well.
The US economy is strong and flexible as the impressive recent jobs report that came out nearly 2 full months after Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs showed. The longer major trade partners such as the EU and China hold on reaching comprehensive trade agreements with the US, the more likely that American companies will find new companies and different places to manufacture. There have already been a number of companies such as that have announced massive investments in the US since Trump became President such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, if countries and economic unions like the EU don’t want to be reasonable with the United States, American companies and consumers will turn to different markets for trade and manufacturing. There are far more countries that can make cheap goods like China does than there our countries with a 30 trillion dollar GDP like the United States, America has the leverage, and Trump knows this. Europe also relies far more on US markets than American companies rely on European ones, and the EU has many absurd tariffs on our goods as Trump pointed out when he announced his reciprocal tariffs nearly 2 months ago.
The reality is that most of the trade agreements over the last 30 years, such as NAFTA, have benefitted American Corporations at the expense of the middle and working-class of the country. Trump isn’t just making sure the US doesn’t get ripped off anymore, he’s also changing the fundamental dynamic of the economic relationship between the US and other countries to protect and rebuild the working class of America. The deal between England and the US puts pressure on other countries to reach an agreement with the US, and this arrangement also sets a precedent for the kinds of terms that will be applied in future trade deals. This trade deal between the US and England gives Trump even more leverage, which the President understands is critically important in any negotiation. Trump is once again thinking several moves ahead and playing chess, while his political opposition remains mired in the past and caught obsessed with trying to find anything negative about his growing list of impressive accomplishments.
