Seven months into President Donald Trump's campaign to rebalance global trade in America's favor, the White House can point to several "wins," but experts say the victories have come at a cost to the economy.
[...]
Anthony Rapa, co-chair of the international trade practice group at law firm Blank Rome, said the reduction of foreign trade barriers could be significant, especially for the auto industry, which has historically had a hard time breaking into markets in Japan and Europe.
"In some countries, the U.S. auto industry has been entirely shut out," Rapa said. "So if there actually is going to be market access for the U.S. auto industry, that would be a game changer."
Undefined Investments
Many of the trade deals have included promises by foreign countries to invest in the U.S. or buy products from U.S. companies. For instance, the E.U. agreed to buy $750 billion worth of energy from the U.S., while Japan will make $550 billion worth of investments in the U.S.
Details of those commitments are unclear, including how exactly countries will pay the money and who will get it. Past trade agreements have taken months or years to negotiate, Rapa said, so the exact nature of the investments may not be clear for some time.
"There are details that are to be fleshed out as time goes on," Rapa said. "I think we'll need to see what is considered to be an investment by the other country. Are we talking equity investments? Are we talking about starting businesses here? Talking about buying assets, buying real estate, financing?"
To read the full article, please click here.
"Evaluating Trump’s Trade Wars: What Has the U.S. Gained and What Are the Economic Costs?" by Diccon Hyatt was published in Investopedia on August 19, 2025.
