The Guardian view on Trumpâs economic threats: bullies can overplay their hand | Editorial
Tariffs on Canada, threats against Iranâs partners and bond market intervention show a president weaponising US power while making Americans poorer at home Three moves in the last week have exposed the limits of Donald Trumpâs economic bullying. The US slapped 50% tariffs on another $20bn of Canadian goods â then threatened the same rate on the cars, trucks, parts and steel that America Inc depends on. On Monday, the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, menaced Iranâs trading partners with exclusion from the US financial network, hoping that coercion can deliver what months of war have not. And as the costs of war, tariffs and pro-billionaire tax cuts helped send US bond yields higher, the Treasury stepped in to tame long-term rates. These are not contradictory policies but a gamble: that US economic power can be repeatedly weaponised without reducing othersâ willingness to depend on it. The Trump administrationâs âD-dayâ sanctions are potentially the most consequential because they expose the scaffolding of American financial power. While markets shrugged off the immediate threat, that calculation might change were the US to target a major Chinese refinery or bank. S
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