As world leaders grasp for a response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, they have two models to study — and both have plenty of pitfalls.
Two of the first targets of Trump’s trade ire, Mexico and Canada, have been going back and forth with the White House for over a month now to try and fend off steep new tariffs. But they’ve pursued very different strategies: Ottawa has taken a more confrontational approach, including immediate trade retaliation, drawing swift White House retribution; Mexico City has tried to lay low and buy time but doesn’t have much more to show for it.
With a new round of tariffs on steel and aluminum that went into effect this week and worldwide “reciprocal” tariffs on the horizon next month, other countries have been taking notes. The lessons they draw will help determine just how much the global economy cracks up as Trump’s trade war deepens.
“There’s the ongoing debate that’s been consistent: Is it better to grovel and kiss the ring or is it better to stand up to the bully?” said William Reinsch, a former Commerce undersecretary now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Both have worked on occasion and have not worked on occasion. So it’s hard to know which is the better tactic in any given circumstance.”
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