Precisely what poor, benighted Syria and prosperous, neutral Switzerland have done to deserve US tariffs of 41 per cent and 39 per cent respectively is hard to discern. Neither is the kind of industrial superpower that represents a threat to America’s economic hegemony, and both would, in their different ways, prefer to stay on reasonably good terms with the Trump White House.
It is, sadly, easier to see why Canada got whacked with a 35 per cent levy on some of its exports – and Donald Trump’s tariff tactics do have a hint of the mob about them. Mr Trump suggested that Canada’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine as a sovereign nation would make it harder to achieve a trade deal, and he also mentioned the scourge of fentanyl. But then again, Mexico, which has also recognised Palestine and is by far the more important source of the drug, has been granted a 90-day tariff reprieve.
