The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president is the political equivalent of a nuclear bomb, an explosion that not only destroys the immediate environment but also scatters radioactive fallout far away, with damage that can last for years.
Most of the impact will be initially felt at home, in the U.S., but the damage to America's standing and interests in the Asia-Pacific is clear. On the economy, Trump has long been antagonistic towards Japan, starting from the trade wars of the 1980s. More recently, he has threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports and has said the U.S. Treasury should immediately declare Beijing a currency manipulator.
