The current chip crisis has its roots not in Covid, but in Trump's trade policies.
The one thing Trump consistently got wrong across the board was trade policy.
We are still reeling from it and in ways I was not aware of previously. Chad P. Brown explains in a series of Tweets.
Missing Chips
Brown explains in more detail in his Foreign Affairs article How to Protect the Semiconductor Supply Chain.
Weaponizing Trade
There is much more to the story but the above snips show how Trump sowed the seed of a chip crisis that exploded in the wake of Covid.
Trump loudly proclaimed "Trade wars were good and easy to win", but he did not win a single one and never could.
Everyone Loses in Trade Wars
In the eyes of Trump there is a winner and loser in every trade deal. In reality, trade is a win-win proposition and in trade wars, everyone loses.
Trump somehow construed losing less was winning.
But given the facts presented by Brown, it is no longer even certain that China lost more than the US.
Regardless, we are still feeling the pain of Trump's unwinnable and naive trade policy.
Will Biden Be Better?
Biden will be better on trade policy for the simple reason no one is as bad as Trump.
But don't expect too much from Biden either. Biden set the tone for pitifully slow tariff rollbacks when he not only kept Trump's tariffs on lumber but increased them.
It's important to not play politics in these matters. Yesterday, I praised Trump in New Study Shows Hospitals Still Gouge Those Who are Uninsured.
Unfortunately, the Progressives appear to be calling most of the shots when its comes to the Democrats' overall legislative agenda. That means we are rooting for nothing much to get done for the next 4 years.
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