Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-16)

E C O N O M I C S

44

40

Edited by

Cristina Lindblad and

Sarah McGregor

● The Biden administration

will not be content simply

to restore the old order

If Donald Trump has illustrated anything as pres-

ident, it’s that the postwar global economic order

is more fragile than anyone thought. Think of

America’s trading relationships and rank in the

world as a painstakingly assembled collection of del-

icate pottery that for generations has been a source

of civic pride and envy from the neighbors. Trump

and his deputies have been the raucous gang of teen-

agers barging their way through, leaving a trail of

chipped and smashed artifacts. President-elect Joe

Biden is the genial grandfather leading a new team

brought in to mend what they can. The questions

now are: How much will they save? And how cre-

ative will they get in the reconstruction?

The good news for a global economy strain-

ing under the weight of a resurgent pandemic is

that Trump and his band haven’t destroyed the

liberalorder,asmanyfeared.They’veleftit bat-

tered.Perhapsthey’veevenprepareditsdefenses

better for another economic assault from China.

But anyone thinking that Biden is simply planning

to rebuild the U.S.-led order the way it was might

be in for a surprise.

Trump’s biggest legacy for many of those who

run the global economy and invest in it will be late-

night stress dreams about his chaotic policymak-

ing. Yet Trump and economic generals such as U.S.

Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have also

scrambled the American politics of trade, opened

the door to a new suite of tactics and tariffs, and

brought to the fore what in many cases have been

long-standing and bipartisan U.S. grievances. When

Biden speaks of the need to “build back better,” he

might be talking about the global economic order

as well. It’s something he and his advisers have

mulled for years.

“The system’s resilience should not be the end

to a comforting story; it should be the starting point VICKY HART/GETTY IMAGES

Bloomberg Businessweek November 16, 2020

Dealing With

Trump’s Trade

Legacy