Shifting

When Donald Trump lands in South Korea later this month for the APEC summit, he will find the ground has significantly shifted.

- ALEX MAGNO

The shifting has been helped along by his own slapstick trade policies.

Trump has been treating America's allies badly. The Americans have been complacent. They thought the US will continue to be the dominant player in Asia forever. They are in for a rude surprise.

We all know about how Trump treated India badly. That encouraged the world's most populous country to rebuild its relations with China and Russia - fellow members in the emergent BRICS economic bloc. Prime Minister Modi was highly visible in last month's parades in Beijing.

One European publication broke the news that Trump has been trying to get hold of Modi by phone. But the Indian leader would not take his call. In the summit on Gaza held a few days ago, Modi was noticeably absent. India sent a low-level minister to the gathering.

Last week, probably carried away by his own braggadocio, Trump announced he will be imposing a 100 percent tariff on China on top of existing ones in retaliation for new export controls imposed by Beijing. The New York stock exchange dropped sharply in response to the news.

Over the past few days, Trump has been trying to play down his new tariff threat. He had just ordered about $20 billion in subsidies for American farmers hit hard by his badly conceived trade war.