Trump's tariff drama is playing out as a tragicomedy

As the plot thickens, it has all the elements of a five-act play headed for deep pathos and a tragic end

- NARAYAN RAMACHANDRAN

American President Donald Trump's tariff drama is a play in five acts. As students of theatre will know, five-act plays were the norm until the 18th century. Roman playwrights Seneca and Horace wrote five-act plays with musical interludes. Shakespeare followed that tradition. Similarly, ancient Sanskrit dramas were structured as five 'arthaprakritis' or transitions. Contemporary plays are not bound by too much structure, but are typically performed in three acts or less. Let's look at Trump's drama since he took office in early 2025.

Act 1—the Mukha in Sanskrit or Exposition in Western theatre: In the opening scene on 2 April, the protagonist Donald Trump unveils massive 'reciprocal tariffs' on all countries. While no one is spared his 10% base rate, 'friends' and 'adversaries' are revealed. Some countries fall in the 'low' US tariff range of 10-30%, like the UK, while others like the EU are subject to a 30-60% range, and China is singled out for up to 185% in total tariffs. One might say that Act 1 had a prelude: Trump's 2024 election manifesto. Intellectual 'justification' for his sweeping tariffs was provided by a document entitled 'A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System' by Stephen Miran, who chairs Trump's Council of Economic Advisors and was just appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.