PRESIDENT TRUMP CREATING NEW ISSUES , WHILE TRYING TO SOLVE OLD ISSUES – By N.S.Venkataraman
Massive “No kings “ protest across USA a few days back, opposing Trump’s policies and the style of functioning has not caused surprise amongst discerning observers around the world. The extent of this protest was such, that the protest was also organised in a few other countries outside USA Some observers point out that such protest was waiting to happen . What is particularly surprising is that President has dismissed such protest as the handiwork of leftists , whatever the term leftist may mean. In any case, it is obvious that Trump does not seem to have realized that cross section of people from various walks of life have participated in the protest and therefore , it can be considered as representative gathering of people.
Normally, a newly elected President would be given some time by people to fulfill his promises , which may be around twelve months or so. However, in the case of Trump administration, even within a few months of his assuming office, strong protests against his methods and observations and policy announcements have been seen. Many critics say that President Trump has not read the writing on the wall after such protest.
The core issues as seen by President Trump:
During the pre election campaign for his second term, Trump raised two issues namely the influx of illegal immigrants to USA and about the poor state of American economy. His campaign on such issues and his promise to solve the issues caught the imagination of the voters , resulting in his comfortable victory.
Draconian measures on migrant issue :
The illegal migrant issue is a long standing subject of debate in USA . Large number of Americans and cross section of American families avail the services of illegal migrants , knowing very well that they are not legal entities. There is a strong view among people that such illegal migrants contribute to the American economy in various ways and fulfill the need for the services of unskilled and semi skilled personnel in a big way.
In his efforts to solve the illegal migrant issues, President Trump is shifting the goal post , by tightening the rules and regulations regarding visa for students and job seekers from other countries in various ways. Such policy has caused concern amongst American Universities as well as employers in several sectors, as this policy of restricting visas can cause shortage of students for universities and shortage of employees for industries and services sector in USA.
The fact is that illegal migrants are already part of US population. USA has a large land area with population density of just 38 per square kilometer. USA can certainly afford to have more people legally.
The pragmatic policy of President should have been to offer citizenship for the illegal migrants by legalizing them , subject to their suitability and verification of credentials. After doing this, with a clean slate in his hand , he can tighten the fresh migrant entry in appropriate way. Instead of this , the draconian measures that have been initiated will only contribute to more issues..
America first policy”
The” America first “policy propagated by President Trump is a good approach on paper and excellent subject for debate. However, in a complex world with high level of inter dependence between the countries , a self centered policy without considering the repercussions or reactions of other countries can only be counterproductive .
The primary strategy adopted by President Trump to implement his America first policy is to impose high import tariffs on almost every country in the world. Obviously, the expectation of President Trump is that preventing entry of goods from other countries by way of imposing high import tariffs will make investors create new industrial capacity and boost the growth of domestic services sector in USA.
The fact is that America is a big importer of several products from across the world due to want of adequate manufacturing capacity in USA. Given the availability of manpower and production cost and other factors , it is not economically feasible to build production capacity in several areas in USA in a globally cost competitive way. Therefore, it has to be a make or buy decision , which American investors and consumers well realise.
By imposing tariffs in a unilateral way , President Trump has thrown overboard the concept of multilateralism and regulations of World Trade Organisation arrived by consensus amongst various countries,
With the tariff shock , the history will write that President Trump has created a new term in the dictionary that would be known as “tariff terrorism”.
The net result of Trump’s tariff policy would be that after the initial shock , American consumers would continue to buy imported products in the same way as it is being done now , with the prices for the consumers sharply increasing. It would be inevitable that producers in USA would also increase the price of products to exploit the situation arising out of high cost of imported product , to multiply their profit. The net result would be that consumers would be the losers.
Basic reason for the “Kings protest” :
There are a few other issues where President Trump has taken some arbitrary decisions without arriving at consensus amongst people . While the implications of anti migration approach and tariff approach are clearly understood, the other issues are subtle but create deep concern amongst people.
It would be good for the future of USA , if Trump would recognize the element of genuineness in such protests and that the protesters are as much interested in welfare of USA, as President Trump and his supporters.
