Trump’s recent trade moves show adversarial approach has only just begun

In White House ceremonies and raucous campaign rallies, President Trump has celebrated a pair of “America First” trade deals he says will end the unfair treatment of American workers.

“Unlike so many who came before me, I keep my promises. We did our job,” he said during his State of the Union address on Feb. 4, referring to new trade deals with Canada, China and Mexico. “. . . Our strategy has worked.”

The new deals rewrite the trade rules Trump says were responsible for “the catastrophe” that struck U.S. manufacturing over the past quarter-century. Yet with fresh tariffs this month on European aircraft and products such as steel nails and aluminum vehicle bumpers, it’s clear that the high-profile accords have not completed the president’s planned overhaul of U.S. trade relations. Continue reading.