What is motivating Trump’s reckless trade war? | Robert Reich

The point is the show the world - not just Canada and Mexico - that he's willing to mete out big punishments

Trump has struck last-minute deals with the leaders of Mexico and Canada to postpone for 30 days hefty tariffs on goods they export to the United States, temporarily averting a damaging trade war.

Over the next month, Mexico and Canada will negotiate with Trump.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com