Trade warrior Trump turning out to be a political opportunist

HERE'S an opportunity to test your political literacy : What was really behind US President Donald Trump's announcement last week that his administration planned to impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminium imports - a move which has already triggered retaliation from China and the European Union (EU), and sparked worries of trade wars between the world's leading economies while sending stocks plummeting?

After a US president makes an important foreign policy decision, especially one that involves an ominous term like "war", we tend to deconstruct the White House's move and try to discover what it means or what the logic behind it is.

We assume that a decision that had the potential to ignite costly trade wars resulted from long deliberations involving the President and his top aides, and that it was part of an effort to pursue a long-term national strategy or "doctrine".