Trade wars with Lauren Gloudeman & Rebecca Christie

Description

2 April 2025 will go down in history, of that there is no doubt. US President Trump and his team insist this is because it was, as they termed it, “Liberation Day” from the global intertwined trade system, in which the US imposed shockingly high tariffs on all its trading partners, excluding Russia and Belarus. Nearly every other state appear to be appalled by this move — because it will harm each of them and their people and they find it incredible that the US, the leader of the free world and the global trading system for the past eight decades, appears to be the one destroying it.

The immediate effects of the tariff decision have quickly become obvious: global markets plunged, but especially those in the US; all states and regions are contemplating reactions, and retaliations. And above all, the credibility of the US has taken a big hit. Indeed, if there is a title to the Trump playbook it seems to be "How to Disrupt the World While Undermining Yourself, Potentially Strengthening Your Opponents and Alienating Your Allies."

To discuss the tariffs, the playbook, the effects and the state of the global economy, Ilana Bet-El is joined by Rebecca Christie, Senior Fellow at Bruegel and Lauren Gloudeman, Director of the China programme at Eurasia Group. In a searching conversation, they clarify much about the tariff shock, the options open to the EU and China, the effects in the US, and potentials for the future.

Recorded on 3 April 2025

Chapters

A new global trade world launched by Trump?

How US tarrifs impact China, EU and global markets?

Are Trump’ tariffs a strategy or a gamble?

China’s and Europe’s responses to Trump

What next for global trade?

Mentions

Eurasia & Bruegel

The Sound of Economics - last episode

“Tariffs and trade wars”

“Did tariffs contribute to the Great Depression?"NPR , 1930s tariff war Trump calculations