US trade policy moves leave economists puzzled

By Gokhan Kurtaran

LONDON

U.S. sanctions on Turkish ministers and decision of increasing tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from Turkey have puzzled economists about President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade and foreign policy.

“The Trump administration has been pushing back [or some would say ‘lashing out’] at countries that it feels have been enjoying an ‘unfair’ trading advantage over the U.S.,” GKFX Senior Market Strategist David Morrison told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

Morrison said that the U.S. was now using trade wars and economic sanctions for political reasons.

“I believe that this is why Trump is using them not just against major trading partners such China, Canada, Mexico and the EU, as a method of righting perceived unfairness over trade, but also against countries where there are political disagreements - Russia, Iran and now Turkey.

“The imposition of sanctions has followed Turkey’s refusal to return [American Pastor Andrew] Brunson to the U.S. While it is a surprise that any country would apply sanctions to a fellow NATO member, Trump has made it clear he’s no great fan of the organization while he sees sanctions as effective,” he added.

FXTM Global Head of Currency Strategy and Market Research Jameel Ahmad said: “The world economy is very inter-connected in the current day and age, and other economies/economic powers might be able to make trade deals away from the United States to offset the pressures U.S. tariffs might have on their respective economies.”

Noting that concerns over the trade war is on the rise, Ahmad said: “There are high concerns that the continuous trade war threats could spark the greatest risk to the global financial world since the global financial crisis of 2008, so we certainly shouldn’t underestimate the impact that the trade war threats could have on the global economy.”