As someone who has researched and commented on global trade for a long time, Tobias Straumann can offer a distinctive perspective on Trump’s tariff policy.
Straumann is critical of talk of the end of globalisation as we know it (Wolfgang Münchau), as he thinks the question will be how globalisation will be re-structured over the next few years and decades.
He also thinks the main issue for the US, as for any economy seeking to relocate production and investment, is skills. How will the US government tackle this problem? Will it announce a large-scaled (re-) training programme going alongside its tariff policy? Will be see a re-orientation of the education system towards more vocational degrees imparting the skills required for high-end production? What is certain is that, while tariffs may or may not work in the short to medium term, a skilled workforce takes a long time to build and develop.
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