Donald Trump is using economic sanctions and tariffs to hit out at allies and adversaries alike.
The U.S. president unexpectedly announced Friday that he was employing tariffs – normally used to address trade disputes – to pressure Turkey over its continued detention of an American pastor. Officials in Ankara are braced for another week of market turmoil, with the lira already down almost 30 percent in the past month.
The move follows Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on North Korea, fresh penalties against Russia and plans to reimpose a raft of sanctions against Iran and anyone who does business there – including U.S. allies in Europe.
The result is an administration wielding a tariffs-and-sanctions hammer more liberally and with less regard for the consequences than its predecessors, Nick Wadhams reports.
Turkey may demonstrate the costs of resisting U.S. economic might. But the White House’s strong-arm tactics have yet to yield significant results, and the protests from Ankara could prove a rallying cry to unite other nations against the U.S.
Non Prototype Language... 