Is Trump Really Making America Better?

The US now has one of the most controversial presidents in the country’s history. The people of the US are largely divided when it comes to views on President Trump’s leadership and the impending change in policies on geopolitical issues and economic matters.

Since he was elected as America’s 45^th President up to his inauguration speech, Trump has clearly demonstrated that he will be a different kind of president with his top agenda being putting Americans first in everything that the country’s top office gets into.

Trump’s policies are widely seen as divisive and many people have already expressed their fears under his leadership. There have been several reports claiming that most people are planning to migrate to Canada, which according to reports is one of the best countries to live in. It ranked 13^th, well ahead of the US, which stood at position 24 last year. The countries are ranked depending on several issues including social, economic, and geopolitical matters, among others.

Now, it’s barely five days since Trump took the oath of office and he has already signed three key Executive Orders whose repercussions could end up making America a better or worse country to live in.

According to critics, his move to withdraw the US from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which was finalized last year in Auckland, New Zealand could affect America’s trade relations in the future with the other countries.

The partnership was mostly made of countries from the Oceania, Latin America, and South East Asia. They included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States of America.

Based on some of Trump’s proposed policies and the executive orders he has already signed, it is clear that the US socioeconomic and geopolitical environments will be affected. The relationship between the US and some of the world’s leading economies could be strained further with the likes of Germany, China, and Japan, already expressing concerns for Trump’s impact on trade relations.

The US economy is the best performing amongst developed countries, but it is still nowhere close to full recovery. Interest rates still remain significantly low despite the last two hikes while inflation has only started to peak over the last few months.

Therefore, if Trump introduces policies that affect America’s relations with the global markets, this could hinder the current progress in economic growth.

In addition, people are already worried that living in the US might not be as attractive as it was before if Trump continues to introduce his immigration gagging policies. As noted earlier, there are some people who are already considering moving to Canada and other parts of the world. Depending on the socioeconomic class of the people and the numbers that move, the US could be drained of a crucial labor force and consumers.

Economically, companies would have to pay higher wages to the remaining workforce while at the same time battling for the fewer consumers. That cannot be good for any economy, especially when Trump has already set up plans in motion to move most of the country’s company operations to within the US.

Most of them had diversified their manufacturing plants in a bid to cutting costs through cheap labor but now, that advantage could be eliminated in the near future. For instance, early this year, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) cancelled a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico following Trump’s increased criticism of companies moving operations outside the country. Trump had accused General Motors (NYSE:GM) for manufacturing its Chevrolet Cruze in Mexico in a tweet that shook the company’s stock price.

Conclusion

Now, most people in the US already own most of the products manufactured by US companies, which means that for these companies to be globally competitive, they must seek to grow their global revenues.

Their rivals from Asia and Europe will have the luxury of accessing cheap labor, which will allow them to be highly competitive in pricing. Then, of course, slowing sales would imply less corporate tax for the US government which could hamper economic growth.

In summary, there is a big question mark on whether President Trump will make America better as promised in his campaign motto. Everything seems to be pointing towards a worse economic situation for the world’s largest economy.