According to the Washington Times:
President Trump on Thursday slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, moving to punish what he said was unfair competition that has sapped the U.S. economy, but seemingly laying the ground for trade war.
Just hours after announcing the tariffs — 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum — Mr. Trump delivered an ultimatum on the ongoing negotiations for updating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Unless Canada makes concessions, he said, the deal will be scrapped.
“The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade. Those days are over,” Mr. Trump said in a defiant statement. “Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United State will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all.”
The divisions amongst the disbelievers are indeed greater than their unity.
US President Donald Trump, despite his shallow and inconsistent manner, is in fact acting fully in accordance with US establishment interests and policy.
America is engaged in two significant initiatives at this time: firstly to intensify pressure against China, and secondly against Iran. Other western countries find the US aggression unreasonable and have been trying to bypass US sanctions with direct relationships with Iran and China. Germany, for example, has even accelerated dialogue with Russia’s Putin over an additional Russian gas pipeline. Therefore, the US has been left with no choice but to threaten general trade war against all Western ‘allies’ in order to force acknowledgement of its leadership, control and mastery of the Western block.
Trump has won agreement from the establishment for a powerful new foreign policy team, comprising National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Recent actions clearly bear the personal signature of this team. Taking a singular unilateralist approach is standard practice for the Republican wing of the American establishment.
Whatever cooperation exists within the Western block is a result of threats, intimidation and material interests, all of which are a fragile basis for a unified approach.
These events should give confidence to Muslims that establishing our own policy independent of America is quite feasible, if we are governed by sincere and politically aware, indigenous ideological leadership.
Such leadership already exists within the Ummah; we have only to reject our existing colonial ruling systems and give our support for the establishment of a state truly based on Islam alone.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
