George Orwell famously described sport as “war minus the shooting”. Could the same maxim be applied to Donal Trump’s tariffs?
Adrian Goldberg discusses the long-term political and economic consequences of the US President’s ‘Liberation Day’ policies with Alexandra Hall Hall, a former UK diplomat now resident in Washington DC, and Simon Nixon, previously chief European commentator at the Wall Street Journal.
Alex describes the tariffs as, “a complete mess…completely incoherent.”
She says that if it is, “a strategic weapon to curtail China, then why would you kneecap whole host of your allies in Asia,” who have always been hit with tariffs.
“It's just not coherent.”
Simon reflects on Sir Keir Starmer’s reaction: “The world has changed, but at the moment, the government's response is, ‘the world has changed, and we're going to knock £5 billion off the benefits bill.’
“I think that the moment calls for something much, much bolder, and it does call for a conversation with the British people.”
That conversation, he believes, should include forging much closer ties with the European Union.
The Byline Podcast is produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
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