Andrew Dickens: The tariffs are here

The age of globalisation is dead. Trump has withdrawn America.

Now we’re in an age of blocs - nations that agree to trade with each other, nations that have commonality.  

So, who are our friends and who are our friends that we get on with?  

China is our biggest trade friend, but is China our friend? No, they’re not.  

So we are into a period of delicate negotiations and that’s going to cause fewer than perfect trade deals.  

Now what do we do about America?

Some have said that the situation is not too bad - 10% as we speak.  

But our trade with America is $9 billion a year, so 10 per cent is near enough a billion dollars, which is not inconsiderable. So what should we do?

The Trade Minister and Prime Minister say it would be foolish to retaliate. We’re not in the same weight class. 

Maybe we should go the Trump playbook. We all know that Trump likes to go big and then pull back to his bottom line. 

So should we go back and say let’s call it 5%, and then wait to see where the cards lie.  

Who knows. What I do know is that the world is in chaos. Russia, China, Israel, Ukraine.  

And inflation is lurking, and uncertainty has not gone away.  

It’s time for circumspection and recognising that the elephants are dancing, and we are but mice. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The age of globalization is dead. Trump has withdrawn America.
Now we're in an age of blocks, nations that agree
to trade with each other, nations that have commonality. So
who are our friends? And who are our friends that

(00:21):
we get on with, and who are our friends we
can trade with? China is our biggest trade friend, but
is China our friend friend? No? They not. So we're
now into a period of delicate negotiations and that's going
to cause less than perfect trade deals. Now what do
we do about America? Some have said the situation that
we are experiencing is not too bad ten percent as

(00:44):
we speak, But our trade with America is nine billion
are years are ten percent? Is near enough? A billion
dollars which is not inconsiderable. So what should we do?
The Trade Minister and the Prime Minister say it would
be foolish to retaliate. We're not in the same weight class.
That's true. I just had this random thought that maybe
we should go to the Trump playbook. We all know
that Trump likes to go big and then pull back

(01:05):
to his bottom line. So should we go back and say, okay,
let's call it five and then wait to see where
the cards lie? Who knows. What I do know though,
is that the world is in chaos Russia, China, Israel, Ukraine,
tariffs and inflation is lurking, and uncertainty has not gone away,

(01:28):
and people are wondering around using the D word every
now and then, depression. So it is a time for
circumspection and recognizing that the elephants are dancing and we
are but mice. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
Listen live to News Talks it be from five am weekdays,

(01:48):
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.