Trump’s ‘sledgehammer’ approach may cause trade wars – financial analyst

US President Donald Trump’s tactics in both political and economic matters are very similar and are tantamount to using a sledgehammer for a problem that requires nuance, financial analyst Henry Johnston has told RT. On Wednesday, Trump announced a new round of sweeping tariffs on scores of trading partners, part of what he has branded his ‘Liberation Day’ plan.

“I think there’s a very interesting parallel between Trump’s approach to the Ukraine conflict and what he is doing economically. And that is that he is attempting to address very deep-seated, longstanding problems with rapid unilateral and aggressive measures,” the analyst told RT. “And in both cases, I think he’s going to encounter more of what we’re already seeing: his very primitive tactics are not getting to the root of the issue. The economic problems that he’s attempting to address are very deep-seated. They’ve been in play for half a century and they will not be addressed by a bludgeoning with tariffs.”

In his speech, Trump presented a detailed chart highlighting the reciprocal tariffs he is applying to different nations. “We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” Trump said of his reciprocal tariff plan. “So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” he added…