US Tariff Surprise

After being the good guy for so long and footing the bill for its allies' security, aid requests, trade and economic support, the United States—if it is viewed like an ordinary human who has been the "cash cow," or in Filipino slang "baka"—has finally woken up and is now asking its global trade partners to play on a more "even" playing field, shaking up the entire global community.

- MARIANNE GO

I'm sure that if we look at the current trade move of the US as a human action, we would acknowledge that the good old days are gone—"nagsawa na, napuno na" (he got fed up) or "nagising na" (he finally woke up). And truth be told, if we were the ones on the perennial giving end, we would do the same—and likely much earlier.

Or maybe not, since a lot of Filipinos willingly—like our hard-working overseas Filipino workers—sacrifice themselves abroad just to be able to support their families here in the Philippines.

But then the world has changed. The US especially has seen that Asia—which includes the now economic powerhouse China—has prospered.

Japan, which was the first to suffer from a nuclear attack, and Korea, which was also devastated by the last world war, have now become vibrant economic models.

Even Vietnam, which had been devastated by its prolonged US-backed civil war, has now become a vibrant and productive economy.

On the other hand, American-made goods are no longer as competitive as Asian-made products, resulting in the trade imbalance that US President Donald Trump now seeks to rectify with his reciprocal tariff regime.

But there is the knee-jerk reaction of trying to shift the blame to our friend and questioning why he is doing what he is now doing in withdrawing his largesse—perhaps even criticizing him for now becoming "madamot," which in English can mean stingy or selfish—especially since we are an ally and "mas mayaman naman sila" (they are richer than us) reasoning, as if being rich and powerful is enough reason to mooch off a well-off friend.