International trade: Why is Trump building walls instead of bridges?

“No man is an island, entire of it-self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.” This expression, a quotation from John Donne’s poem, “Devotions” (1624), is a warning to individuals that they are only part of humanity. This is applicable to President Donald Trump of America and the way he is isolating America, believing that America has it all and can exist independent of other nations. No man can live isolated! Same thing applies to countries in this modern era when it comes to international trade. So why is President Trump trying to segregate America? John Donne said “every person is connected to others; no one can live in isolation”. The same principle relates to nations. No nation on earth is an island in itself. Connection is very important for the wellbeing of the people in different nations.
Trump’s administration said it intends to negotiate trade deals, including with China, but it is not clear on what conditions the president would be willing to deal. He has long said that US trade deficits are the result of unfair dealings that need to be properly set, though his tariffs also hit countries with which the United States has a trade surplus. Donald Trump placed 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Canada in March, 2025, as one of the ways to help domestic industries grow. The Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, on April 3, 2025, announced new countermeasures to protect Canadian workers and businesses and defend Canada’s economy. The measures include 25 percent tariffs on non-Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (non-CUSMA) compliant fully assembled vehicles and other products imported into Canada from the United States. The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, has described Donald Trump’s series of tariffs as “protectionism”.
In an exclusive article for Nhan Dan, the official newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party, Chinese President Jinping wrote that “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere.” The US President warned on Sunday, April 13, that no country would be getting “off the hook” on tariffs despite a 90-day reprieve on some levies, while also downplaying exemptions for Chinese technology. Global markets have been on a roller coaster since Trump’s April 2, 2025, series of unwarranted and unjustified tariffs announcement, declining sharply before partially recovering with his 90-day suspension on the steepest rates two weeks ago. Most nations will now face a baseline 10 percent tariff for the near-three-month period – except China, which launched a tit-for-tat countermeasure. The exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing set a retaliatory 125 percent band on US imports!
Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform penultimate Sunday that “Nobody is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” In addition to the general reprieve for other countries, Trump on Friday issued exemptions for Chinese-made semiconductors and electronics, amid warnings that US consumers faced skyrocketing prices for products such as smartphones and laptops. On Sunday, however, Trump asserted that there was “no Tariff ‘exception'” on those products, saying that they remained subject to a 20 percent rate in “a different Tariff ‘bucket’”. Earlier, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry had said Friday’s move only “represents a small step” and insisted that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy.
International trade does not work on the dictatorial terms of a party to a deal. The two parties, that is, the importers and the exporters, must agree terms. In 2024, mainland China was Vietnam’s third largest source of foreign investment, behind Singapore and South Korea. President Xi urged the US and China to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.” He also reiterated Beijing’s line that a “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner.” South Africa has said that it will leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement to bolster inter-African trade, fostering stronger regional economic integration and cooperation. The Federal Government of Nigeria has set up a subcommittee to assess the impact of US tariffs at 14 percent on the Nigerian economy.
The European Union (EU) is considering applying retaliatory tariffs on nearly €21 billion of U.S. products like soybeans, motorcycles and orange juice after the bloc’s 27 countries approved the measures on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, the European Commission announced. “The EU considers U.S. tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy. The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the U.S., which would be balanced and mutually beneficial”. Hitting back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, the EU retaliatory measures will apply in three rounds. Measures covering €3.9 billion in trade will go into force next week, with a further €13.5 billion from mid-May and a final round of €3.5 billion following in December, 2025.
Though Donald Trump announced suspension of the tariffs for 90 days, the relief could be short-lived, with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defense networks. Trump had said he will give “very specific” details on Monday, April 14, 2025, and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said semiconductor tariffs would likely be in place “in a month or two.” Lutnick said pharmaceutical products would “also be outside the reciprocal tariffs,” using an administration term for tariffs aimed at bringing all US trade imbalances to zero. The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although US officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first. Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday that “we don’t have any plans” for talks between the US president and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries hit by the global economic storm. President Jinping on Monday kicks off a five-day Southeast Asia tour for talks with the leaders of Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia. The fallout from Trump’s tariffs – and subsequent whiplash policy reversals – has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging. Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires – including a number of his supporters – have openly criticized the tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive. Only Donald Trump knows why he is making fences around America instead of building bridges to connect other nations.