Policies can do the opposite of what they promise

Washington

GUESS what? A President Trump could adopt his new trade agenda without any authorisation from Congress - and this could trigger a global trade war and a deep US recession. Policies that promise to make us stronger economically could do the opposite.

That was the main take-away of a study by the Peterson Institute, a Washington think-tank, of the trade policies of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both candidates oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and Mr Trump has advocated stiffer anti-trade policies - high tariffs on Mexico (35 per cent) and China (45 per cent) as well as possible withdrawal from the World Trade Organization (WTO).