CPTPP as an option

Trade disorder calls for pacts with EU, Asia

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Time is running out on the 90-day "pause" that United States (US) President Donald Trump declared in his trade war against the rest of the world. The countdown will end on July 8, when his retributive tariffs are supposed to come back into effect. The US administration had promised that some trade deals would be announced before then, and it has said at various points that up to 90 different negotiations are ongoing. But so far only one, with the United Kingdom (UK), has been announced. There is no sign that other negotiations, including those with India, are going as well. In any case, the "baseline" 10 per cent tariff Mr Trump had initiated will stay—it has stayed as part of the deal with the UK. That tariff has had an emboldening effect for the US administration because it has raised billions in revenue, which helps finance its tax-cutting plans and has also had a very limited impact on inflation so far. While Mr Trump's disruptions to global trade may have for now taken the back seat to the disorder in West Asia, that moment will