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David Stockmans Contra Corner
The Donald’s Art Of The Nothingburger

The Donald’s Art Of The Nothingburger

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david stockman
May 12, 2025
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David Stockmans Contra Corner
The Donald’s Art Of The Nothingburger
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At least the Donald isn’t very picky about his “wins”. There was absolutely no unfair trade problem with the UK in the first place—so it’s not surprising that a vaguely described “deal” was cobbled together by the White House, purportedly representing a first out of the box example of endless trade deal victories to come.

In fact, however, the UK deal is a pure nothingburger which is reminiscent of the Donald’s 2019 “win” via the ballyhooed USMCA deal with Canada and Mexico. Yet as became evident when the US trade deficit of $65 billion with Canada and Mexico combined in 2017 soared to $235 billion by 2024, the entire deal amounted to mainly a name change of the the old NAFTA free trade arrangement, decorated by a couple of minor bells and whistles with respect to labor and environmental standards added.

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