At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam, on Nov. 10, President Donald Trump reiterated his “America first” trade philosophy to the business leaders of APEC countries. “I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first,” he declared.
This is a dramatic departure from the previous U.S. trade paradigm that pushed international trade in so-called “free trade” agreements, which were never free and put America at a disadvantage. This doctrine of globalization led to trillions of dollars in trade deficits for the United States, transferring an astronomical amount of wealth to other countries.
