Donald Trump has long trumpeted his own abilities to make deals.
Some have asked if the tariff enslaught is a tactic for him to crack open countries to make more deals.
Former UK chief trade negotiator Sir Crawford Falconer has spoken to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips about this idea.
When asked if Donald Trump’s tariffs were a negotiating tactic or were here to say Sir Crawford said: “To be honest it’s not clear.”
He went on: “I suspect to some degree it’s not definitively decided. It’s true if you watch the Rose Garden performance, the tone was that he was making promises to his domestic base that he was going to protect them.
“He may feel if he does deals, he can still sell that to that base, but the tenor of the presentation would make you a little gloomy that they are here to stay.
“His chief advisers have been out saying: ‘Hey we’re not doing deals.’
“But the model of this president in the past is that he’s deal-osbsessed.
“My view on these things being a grimy old trade negotiator is that you test it. You see what it is.
“If these are here to stay, then you have to go for a different tactic.”
UK role
And what could this different tactic be?
In lieu of the US, the UK could play an important role building up trade relations with other partners, Sir Crawford said.
He explained: “The role of the UK, in advancing trade liberalisation with others, will become important.
“At the moment you have to put emphasis on the US to see where you are.
“But I think you then start directing your efforts to find a way to get other countries to come and join a more liberalising agenda.”
A new trading bloc?
The eventual end state of that could look like building up liberalised free trade with other countries – excluding protectionist nations like the US and possibly China too.
Sir Crawford said: “You [the US] want to protect yourself? That’s your decision.
“The rest of us want to get on with liberalisation because we believe that’s good for all of us.
“That sends a pretty powerful message and it’s also got commercial benefits for us.”
A not-so special relationship?
Much has been said of the so-called “special relationship” the US and UK allegedly share.
But it didn’t stop Washington from hitting Britain with tariffs like everyone else.
Asked about US-UK relations, Sir Crawford said: “We got stiffed.”
But he added: “Everybody also got stiffed as well.”
“I certainly don’t think you should be working on the assumption that we have some kind of absolutely favoured position,” he said.