Economic freedom and economic coercion
Trump announces a foreign policy based in economic liberty
The Trump administration is moving toward a foreign policy rooted in the principle of economic freedom. Trump is proposing and implementing tariffs as the price for doing business with the USA, with the understanding that all companies are free to sell their products in other countries, if the price imposed by US tariffs is not consistent with their economic interests.
To be sure, economic freedom is not entirely free. If a company has fewer prospects for selling their products in other countries, considering the great size of the US consumer market, then they are in effect coerced into accepting the terms of trade that the USA demands. They are like the worker who accepts a wage, not because she or he thinks it is fair or just, but because he or she has no other job offer in hand.
In spite of the coercive element in the Trump proposal, the administration’s policy of reciprocal tariffs is a significant step beyond imperialism. Why? Because it allows countries to develop comme…