A few months ago, when the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s ‘Liberation’ tariffs were unconstitutional, I argued that Trump suffered from a malady psychiatrists called ‘fixed idea’ syndrome, according to which the patient holds on to ‘A firmly held, irrational idea or belief that is maintained despite evidence to the contrary; it may take the form of delusion and become an obsession.’ True to form, the Trump administration then imposed temporary import surcha

Fixed Idea ( idée fixe) ‘A firmly held, irrational idea or belief that is maintained despite evidence to the contrary. It may take the form of delusion and become an obsession.’ APA Dictionary of Psychology. One need not have a degree in psychology to conclude that President Trump suffers from a severe obsession with tariffs as an instrument of foreign policy to achieve a variety of international economic or other objectives. In the weeks since my last blog, he backed off

In early 2025, the new US administration announced a series of tariff increases in violation of its commitments in the World Trade Organization (WTO), undermining the very system of trade rules that the US had helped establish after World War II. The US actions led to many retaliatory responses of increased tariffs by trading partners including the European Union (EU). Over the next several months, the US engaged in a series of negotiations leading to so called ‘framework’ ag