Trump sets out economic war in address to Asia-Pacific summit
By
Nick Beams
11 November 2017
In what can only be described as a nationalist “America first” rant, US President Donald Trump yesterday issued a virtual declaration of economic warfare to the heads of government and trade ministers at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Abandoning the relatively subdued tone he adopted in China over the previous two days, Trump unleashed a tirade against what he called “violations, cheating or economic aggression” in the region—remarks clearly directed against Beijing.
The speech was billed as a major elaboration of US policy toward what Washington calls the Indo-Pacific. Raising his voice so loud that the speakers in the hall began to crackle, Trump blamed China and other countries for pursuing policies that stripped jobs from the United States.
“We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not tolerate them,” he said.
“Despite years of broken promises, we were told that someday soon everyone would behave fairly and responsibly. People in America and throughout the Indo-Pacific region have waited for that day to come. But it never has, and that is why I am here today—to speak frankly about our challenges … From this day forward we will compete on a fair and equal basis. We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore. I am always going to put America first.”
There were two essential components to Trump’s diatribe: an attack on the multilateral trading system operating under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and an implicit call for a regional group, centred on the United States, directed against China.
Without specifically naming China, Trump said countries had been…