The Trump administration is claiming 50 countries are clamoring to make trade deals.

The Question is why would anyone waste their time negotiating a deal with Trump when Trump’s entire business history demonstrates any agreement Trump signs is not worth the paper it is written on.

During Trump’s first administration he tossed out the North American Free Trade Agreement between USA/Canada/Mexico and forced Canada and Mexico to renegotiate trade. Trump negotiated and signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement during his first administration and then threw it out at the start of the second Trump administration.

Trump has consistently and repeatedly demonstrated Trump’s word is worth, not simply nothing, but less than nothing. In fact Trump’s history makes it clear that the rational planning behaviour in dealing with Trump is to assume Trump will break any agreement he has made in order to minimize the cost to you of Trump’s ignoring any agreement.

Still, as stupid as expecting any agreement one negotiates with Trump to have any effect on Trump’s behaviour is the colossal stupidity would lie in negotiating any agreement that meets Trump’s  stated demands: 1) “We’re going to have surpluses or, at worst, we’re going to be breaking even.”  2) “They are coming to the table; they want to talk, but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis—not just for the present, but also for the past.”

It is why Vietnam’s offer to reduce tariffs on US goods to 0% was so quickly and roundly rejected.

Given the cost of products produced in the US and the low per capita income of Vietnam it is mathematically ridiculous to demand breaking even trade between the US and Vietnam. The same mathematical reality applies to Madagascar, Myanmar and Lesotho to name but a few.

Demanding that every country run a $0 trade account – imports = exports – is a demand impractical to the point of being an irrational.

As to Trump’s demand #2 and his decision to run the stars and stripes down the flagpole, run up the Jolly Roger and use a US trade war to extort $$$$ from countries…..

What country is going to be so irrational as to give into the unending stream of extortion demands of MAGA’s god king Trump?

One final point on the matter of trade: Trump’s sycophants were whining that the EU will not accept either US chicken or the US’s ‘beautiful’ beef while ignoring the fact that the reason the EU does not import US chicken or beef is for health reasons. If the US truly wants to export chicken and beef to the EU US farmers need to raise and process their chicken and beef in accordance with EU health regulations.

Although, given that Trump has laid off the inspectors needed to certify that chicken or beef for export comply with other nations health standards, it is obvious the Trump administration wants to complain about not being able to export chicken or beef to Europe but have no desire to actually do so.

As to vehicles consider Tesla’s cybertruck which was not designed to meet the safety standards of Britain or Europe.

It is disingenuous to whine that countries will not import products you manufacture that fail to meet the importing county’s safety standards.

Of course, disingenuous  is business as usual for Trump, the Republicans and far to large a percentage of US politics, US politicians and US voters.

Although the disingenuousness  of US politics, US politicians and US voters is solidly rooted in dissociation  from reality arising from vincible ignorance, failure to employ the critical thinking process and a fatal lack of creative maladjustment.

While it would be rational to ‘negotiate’ with Donald Trump to appease Trump’s overweening ego and avoid a Trumpian temper tantrum imposition of additional Tariffs and/or threats/extortion as countries work together to create a mutually beneficial trade consortium of the dependable to protect them from erratic US demands and behaviour…..

……it would be irrational and an incredibly dangerous, foolhardy risk to place any certainty or trust in any agreement reached with the US government of the Trump administration.

CAVEAT EMPTOR