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Trump’s tariff tussle is reshaping global trade. Is it chaos, or a calculated strategy to revive America?

This is a dangerous article to write, since news about Trump’s tariffs are liable to change at a moment’s notice — whether a new trade war battlefront, another China tariff hike, or further panic on Wall Street.

To Trump’s critics — especially in far-flung Australia, where the rationale behind his policies seems most obscure — this week’s economic volatility is yet more evidence that Trump is a chaotic and deeply malevolent leader.

While I, too, harbour some reservations about Trump’s tariff tactics, the Orange Man Bad analysis I’ve just summarised above is so cartoonish it could only come from the propaganda press.

Which is precisely where most people sourced it.

Read on if you want to break the media bubble and actually understand Trump’s strategy.

A Recap of Recent Events

But first, a quick recap of recent events.

Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced ‘Liberation Day’, in which he imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all US imports, with additional tariffs on almost 60 nations — China chief among them — to stave off existing tariffs and trade deficits.

Wall Street panicked. Friendly nations scrambled to negotiate deals; others retaliated. Within days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average — generally regarded as the key indicator of market confidence — had dropped by almost 6,000 points or 14%, on par with the drop following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A week later, in an incredible about-face, Trump declared a 90-day pause, in which all tariffs would remain at 10%, giving those 60 nations a reprieve to negotiate with the White House. But he made one exception: China, which had been steadily raising its own tariffs in response.

“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

By contrast, he explained, more than 75 other nations had acted in good faith and started negotiating an end to tariffs. Trump’s pause apparently had a double purpose: to quell market fears, and to allow time for such negotiations to take place.

In response — you guessed it — Wall Street roared back. By the close of trading on Wednesday, the Dow surged nearly 3,000 points, recovering almost 8% in its biggest single-day gain in history.

Throughout these events, Democrats and the media (though I repeat myself) became stalwart defenders of Wall Street capitalism. Read that sentence again if you didn’t fall off your chair. The irony is on par with leftists torching Teslas to save the world — but that’s another story.

Trump’s Long Love Affair with Tariffs

Those trashing Trump’s tariff deals as a textbook case of his erratic, impulsive style are missing two important facts: Trump has loved both tariffs and deals for decades.

He began spruiking tariffs in CNN interviews and full-page New York Times ads as early as 1987.

1987 also happens to be the year he published his bestselling book ‘The Art of the Deal’, whose central message is to think big, drive a hard bargain, and always play to win.

“Deals are my art form,” Trump wrote of himself over a decade ago. “Other people paint beautifully or write poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.”

Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully or write poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2014

So, is Trump upending world trade just to scratch some 40-year-itch?

No. Trump’s other long-running refrain has been the plight of the forgotten American.

Trump and the Forgotten American

Love it or hate it, Trump’s tariff strategy is designed to defend the factory worker, the small business owner and the rural voter in flyover country. Imposing tariffs on all US imports will, over time, supercharge local manufacturing and encourage foreign companies to move their business to America, reviving job markets in the process.

By reshoring jobs, rebuilding US industry and recovering economic self-reliance, Trump is aiming to play the long game for American workers who have endured decades of decline and social squalor.

If you haven’t been to America’s Rust Belt cities, as I have, it’s impossible to fully understand Trump’s frustration with his country’s decline.

For a glimpse into the struggles and desperation so many Americans face, take an hour to watch Christopher Rufo’s heart-wrenching documentary America Lost.

Trump understands that America’s decline is not mere happenstance.

For decades, countries like China have exploited low US tariffs, currency manipulation and intellectual property theft to flood the US with cheap goods, hollowing out American manufacturing. It was a cynical play for military expansion and global dominance — and it worked.

The result was the destruction of Middle America. Factory closures across the heartland shattered entire communities that, even in 2025, remain in tatters. Many towns and cities are mere shadows of their former selves, haunted by abandoned main streets, decaying homes, and soaring rates of fentanyl addiction — a crisis fuelled by China’s trafficking efforts to further devastate America.

Thus, for Trump, tariffs aren’t just an economic tool but a line of defence for American dignity.

US coastal elites remain oblivious, insulated from the everyday struggles of Rust Belt Americans. They turn up their nose at “deplorable” Trump voters, who elected him to do precisely what he did this week.

Wall Street might have panicked, but the markets are on their way to recovery. And Trump now has his prize: China, isolated from every other country, cornered by a 125% American tariff.

The art of the deal — or should I say, the art of the tariff.

Trump just triggered the biggest trade war in decades.

• 125% tariffs on China
• Markets on edge
• Global backlash

To most, it looks like madness.

But this isn’t new—it’s The Art of the Deal in action.

Here are 8 rules from his playbook—and how he’s using them right now: pic.twitter.com/fDSXf8uTxQ

— Finance Nerd (@Finance_Nerd_) April 10, 2025

Where To From Here?

The implications are obvious enough.

Without access to US markets, China has nowhere else to sell its goods: Europe doesn’t have the demand, and domestic buyers are shrinking thanks to low birthrates. Economic pain will spark mass layoffs — a major threat to Communist control.

Now, with other Asian nations eager to make tariff deals, Trump holds all the power. If he plays his cards right with China — rallying other nations for collective diplomacy with the Red Dragon — he could reshape global trade and rewrite history.

Think big. Drive a hard bargain. Always play to win.

😂 pic.twitter.com/IosIeeoLbx

— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) April 9, 2025

As political commentator Jesse Kelly wrote just yesterday:

Trump’s eternal haters (and worshippers) make the same mistake over and over again. They take what he says during negotiations as gospel.

Trump has a chaotic way of negotiating. He insults, compliments, and takes different sides of every issue.

All you can judge is the result.

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) April 9, 2025

The unfolding trade war is still far from a done deal, and there may yet be many bumps in the road.

But let me tell you one group of people I don’t trust: The Experts™️. They got America into this mess. And they’ve been wrong on almost every issue since 2020 — and well before then, too.

I’m willing to back Trump this time and see where it takes us.

But yes, I too am holding on for the ride.

___

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.