Marco Forgione, Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade Director General spoke to CGTN Europe about Trump’s tariffs.
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00:00Marco Forgione, Director General at the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade.
00:05Marco, welcome back, good to see you. So China's responded with countermeasures and filed a
00:10complaint to the World Trade Organization. I mean, given the increasing skepticism, if I can put it
00:16like that, of international institutions, is this legal challenge really going to make any difference?
00:23I don't think the legal challenge really is going to have any significant impact
00:28on what Donald Trump does. And I think it's much more an indicator that China is intending to use
00:35all legal avenues that exist to it to try and address what President Trump is doing. So it's
00:43much more totemic than actually going to have an impact. With economic nationalism on the rise,
00:50I wonder how disruptive could this shift be for countries that have historically relied on
00:56multilateral trade? Well, I think what you're seeing is that the President is using trade tools
01:06to exert geopolitical pressure. And as you've identified, this is a considered attempt by
01:13President Trump and the administration to unpick the multilateral global administrative system.
01:22You see the withdrawal from the World Health Organization, the withdrawal from the Paris
01:27Climate Accord, and the withdrawal from UNHCR, on top of what he's doing within the federal
01:36state in the US, you know, shuttering USAID is just an example of that. This is a very determined
01:44effort to rewrite the way in which the global system operates.
01:50Is Trump's bark going to be worse than his bite in real terms? We've seen the deal being done
01:57on Canada and Mexico. Is this how it's all going to play out over coming days?
02:03He's using the issue of tariffs and trade as a key lever to deliver his geopolitical objectives.
02:12You mentioned Canada and Mexico, there was also Colombia and Panama. Next in the frame is the EU.
02:20And I think the reality is, although there may be an awful lot of heat being generated,
02:26there is a determination from the administration to reframe and reset the global system. So I think
02:33we have to take very seriously his intention to correct what he perceives to be the bias
02:41operation of a global system against the US. So take very seriously his intention to get
02:48things done differently. So you're saying this is the beginning of a fundamental transformation
02:54of global trade, rather than a blip and a storm of headlines that are going to last the week?
03:02Yeah, absolutely. And it's more than just trade. You know, I think that he's going for a significant
03:08restructuring, unpicking of the way in which the global system, the multilateral system,
03:14has operated. He feels much more comfortable as a dealmaker in bipartisan relationships,
03:20in point to point, in the US engaging in conversations with a single nation rather
03:27than through multilateral organizations. Which is why I'm hopeful, in fact, that the current
03:33conversations, the current issues between the US and China, the two largest global economies,
03:38can be resolved. And I think, you know, it's a pity that the planned conversation between
03:43President Xi Jinping and President Trump has been postponed this week. But I really do think
03:48that there's an opportunity for a negotiated collaboration and agreement to be reached.
03:54Marco, good to see you again. Thank you for that. Marco Forgione,
03:57Director General of the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade.