If everything that Donald Trump has indicated he will do as soon as he becomes president of the United States were to be taken seriously, the world would have to take cover. Will Trump invade Panama to regain control of the canal? Will he insist on buying Greenland? Will it deport millions of immigrants? Will he fire thousands of officials? Will it require its NATO partners to spend 5% of their budget on weapons? Will it force Ukraine to cede part of its territory to Russia? Will it encourage Israel to continue its endless war? Will he impose sky-high tariffs, especially on China?
Of all these possibilities, the most complex and transcendent is the last: tariffs, that is, the trade war. Because it would mean changing the world as we have known it since the beginning of the 21st century. In 2001, China finally joined the World Trade Organization, largely thanks to the efforts of Bill Clinton during his eight years in office (1993-2001). Clinton, at the head of the globalizing forces, assured that the integration of China was going to mean more wealth for everyone and, in the medium term, the democratization of the country and the definitive liberalization of the global economy.
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