Trump looking for trade 'reset' with most countries: ex-USTR official

Shift could start with blanket tariffs for most countries, Michael Beeman says

Michael Beeman, a former U.S. trade official, said that the far right and the far left in the U.S. have reached an alignment on the harm that comes from trade. (Photo by Rod Searcey)

MASAHIRO OKOSHI, Nikkei Washington bureau chief

November 16, 2024 22:53 JST

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump will try to find a new equilibrium in trade relations that takes American tariffs as a given, a former assistant U.S. trade representative whose remit covered Japan, South Korea and the Asia-Pacific said in a Nikkei interview.

"On trade and international economics, I think that they intend to reset relationships with most countries in the world, and I think their expectation is try and build a new kind of relationship, based on acceptance of U.S. tariffs," Michael Beeman said. He served from January 2017 to January 2023, covering Trump's first term and part of Joe Biden's single term.