- The global community must be watching with utter dismay and disbelief at how Trump’s administration is going about disturbing the established order with some of the most whimsical and lopsided policies. Trump’s avowed import tariffs on countries that he believes charge more taxes as compared to the USA have seen so much of flip-flops in the last couple of months that the people following the geopolitical scenario must have lost count by now. China, too, has remained firm in not pandering to Trump’s import tariffs by imposing reciprocal tariffs on American goods. Make no mistake, China is in no mood to be cowed down by Trump’s unilateral tariff war, but has made it clear that it will not hesitate to impose reciprocal tariffs.
PC: Lowy Institute
- Apart from the tariff conundrum, what must have caught the imagination of the world is the way the Trump administration is ramping up pressure on immigrants ostensibly to cater to the Make America Great Again (MAGA) local loyalists. The president must realise that without immigrants, the USA cannot be powered on expected lines. Trump’s crackdown against anti-ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) protesters in Los Angeles, California, appears to be inflaming an already polarized America, split down the middle over immigration. The National Guard and Marines have been called up for what is essentially a domestic law and order problem. ICE raids have become tougher since Trump came to office.
PC: Fox News
- And while it is perfectly within the remit of any government to take action to stop illegal immigration, the Trump administration’s approach appears to be allergic to immigration overall. Case in point, admin officials have been accused of gutting specific programmes tied to helping lawful, permanent US residents obtain citizenship. Never mind that all this is counterproductive, given the hugely productive role immigrants have played in the US. The saying that immigrants have built America may sound like a cliché, but it’s an undeniable fact. That the US remains the world’s largest and most dynamic economy is in large part due to immigrants. According to a study by the Immigration Research Initiative, immigrants account for 17% of the US GDP. Simple.
PC: The Bell Policy Center
- Why so? A key reason for this is that the immigrants are mostly concentrated in the working-age population, comprising around 18% of the American labour force. On top of this, immigrants – including undocumented migrants – pay around %525bn annually in federal, state, and local US taxes. Besides, there’s a strategic argument for the US to adhere to a liberal approach to immigration. The US simply can’t throw its workforce without immigrants who help fill gaps in certain critical sectors. Immigrants wish to flock to the US simply because of the opportunities and enhanced living standards. Thus, it can be safely mentioned that Trump’s MAGA cannot happen without the presence of immigrants contributing handsomely to the country’s development.
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