Abstract
The international discussion of Trump's dispute over import tariffs for steel, aluminum and even cars is so far focused on the big global players. However, smaller African countries in particular suffer from the planned punitive tariffs, similar to the famous African proverb: 'When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers'. After years of talk on partnership for economic development (AGOA, Cotonou Agreement, EPAs, etc) Trump's tariffs mean a severe blow to participatory foreign trade and sustainable industrialization in Africa. Egypt and South Africa for example, the potentially most affected African countries, face massive job losses and earning opportunities, with all the consequences that this entails for their already fragile economy and the population in dire poverty. Trump's intervention thus joins the continued power politics of former colonial powers vis a vis Africa. Nevertheless, despite these asymmetric power relations, unfair trade relations and the desolate state of African infant industries are not necessarily due to externalities. More often than not they are home-made. African agency plays an ambiguous role in enhancing participatory trade and indigenous industrialization.
Highlights
The international discussion of Trump's dispute over import tariffs for steel, aluminum and even cars are so far focused on the big global players
The following examples of African countries, who have little power to retaliate, show that Trump’s protectionism is inspired by economic and ‘national security’ reasons, which may be allowed for by WTO regulations, and by considerations to enforce good conduct of trading partners in order to ‘make America great again’ which are obviously illegal according to WTO rules5
African states still strive to cope with the legacy of the slave trade, colonialism, and the subsequent struggle for political and economic independence in a crisis prone continent
Summary
Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/87647/ MPRA Paper No 87647, posted 29 Jun 2018 18:44 UTC. The following examples of African countries, who have little power to retaliate, show that Trump’s protectionism is inspired by economic and ‘national security’ reasons, which may be allowed for by WTO regulations, and by considerations to enforce good conduct of trading partners in order to ‘make America great again’ which are obviously illegal according to WTO rules. The following examples of African countries, who have little power to retaliate, show that Trump’s protectionism is inspired by economic and ‘national security’ reasons, which may be allowed for by WTO regulations, and by considerations to enforce good conduct of trading partners in order to ‘make America great again’ which are obviously illegal according to WTO rules5 It went to such length to punishing Africans for refusing second-hand American clothes. African economists give notice of collateral damages of a possible trade war between the major global players, notably a negative impact on productive capacity and jobs for Africa’s infant industries 13
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