Trump sees trade as a form of tribute. That will only isolate the U.S.

In this commentary, Prof Joseph Liow, Tan Kah Kee chair in comparative and international politics at Singapore’s NTU, writes that it is now clear, with his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs, that Trump wants to reshape global trade and economics around an American tribute system centred on him. Some might grimace at talk of the existence of an American tribute system. After all, the U.S. had over the past 80 years willingly expended blood and treasure to create a generally stable and prosperous, if imperfect, global order. As former president John F. Kennedy famously declared in a bygone era, the U.S. was prepared to "pay any price, bear any burden." 

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