Billedet: Trump på besøg i Frankrig / Foto: Wikimedia Commons

Under G7-møtet i Quebec lørdag kom USA’s præsident Donald Trump med et dobbelt udspil som på den ene side er et forslag, og på den anden siden et ris bag spejlet.

Ifølge New York Times foreslog Trump på den ene side at fjerne alle toldrestriktioner, mens han på den anden side truede med at afslutte ethvert handelssamkvem med parter, som ikke har retfærdige handelsforbindelser med USA:

President Trump said on Saturday that he had brought up with America’s closest allies the dramatic prospect of completely eliminating tariffs on goods and services, even as he threatened to end all trade with his counterparts if they didn’t stop what he said were unfair trade practices.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a contentious weekend meeting of the Group of 7 nations in a resort town outside of Quebec City, Mr. Trump said that eliminating all trading barriers would be “the ultimate thing.” But he railed about what he called “ridiculous and unacceptable” tariffs on American goods and vowed to get rid of them.

Efter den amerikanske præsidents opfattelse er USA en sparegris, som alle andre plyndrer, men at det skal være slut:

“It’s going to stop. Or we’ll stop trading with them. And that’s a very profitable answer, if we have to do it,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing, and that ends.”

Trump advarer USA’s handelspartnere mod at iværksætte modforholdsregler:

“If they retaliate, they’re making a mistake,” Mr. Trump said, suggesting that the trade imbalance between the United States and those countries would make tariff increases more destructive for their economies.

Mr. Trump said some of the other leaders he met with during the Group of 7 summit appeared to admit that their trade arrangements with the United States were unfair.

The Donald må altså siges at have ryddet bordet i Quebec.

Spørgsmålet er om de andre kan foretage sig ret meget. USA er verdens største forbrugsmarked, med en årlig omsætning på ca. 13.000 milliarder dollar, og desuden verdens største importmarked, med en værdi på over 2300 milliarder dollar.