He ended up suspending, for a month, the 25 % customs taxes he had imposed on Canadian and Mexican products. But the evil is done. By targeting longtime allies of Uncle Sam – he also says he wants to make Canada the American “51st State” and seize Greenland at the expense of Denmark – Donald Trump facilitates the designs of his main strategic rival: the China.
Beijing will now be a game to denounce “American imperialism” to advance its pawns in the countries of the Global South and international organizations; And get closer to Europeans panicked by the blows of the Republican. With the sole compass of the law of the strongest and their only national interests, the United States risks losing the moral credit that they had.
The island in the heart of a vast “deal” with Beijing?
The consequences are potentially dramatic. On behalf of what “universal values” will they be able to oppose China’s attack on Taiwan tomorrow? Using Trump’s words concerning Greenland, his counterpart Xi Jinping will retort that he needs the island (which he considers one of his provinces) for his “national security”. It is not certain that the New York businessman, who seems not very sensitive to the survival of Taiwanese democracy, would decide to involve the American army, in the event of Chinese invasion. He could seek to negotiate with the Chinese autocrat a vast economic and geopolitical “deal”, whose island would serve as currency.
Donald Trump warned during his campaign that the Taiwanese should “pay” more for American protection and demands a jump in military spending, up to 10 % of GDP. However, hampered by a majority opposition to Parliament and more favorable to a dialogue with China, the Taipei government had to plane its defense budget for 2025, which will not reach 2.45 % of the GDP planned. Dangerous, while Chinese pressure intensifies, and the showdown with Washington is just beginning.
The tenant of the White House, who has estimated in recent months that Taiwan, who manufactures 90% of the most advanced fleas on the planet, had “stolen” his semiconductor industry in America, threatens to trigger rights customs on these essential components of the island’s economy (and that of the world). One thing is certain: under Trump II, the price to pay by the Taiwanese for their defense will be much higher than under Trump I.
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