Hello and welcome to the Americano podcast, a series of discussions about American politics and the Trump presidency.

I'm Freddie Gray. I'm deputy editor of the spectator. Today we're going to be talking about

whether Donald Trump has really started a global trade war. And I'm talking to John Carney,

who is the economics editor at Brightpot.

John, I'm not sure if I'm completely right in saying this, but I think you might be the only writer in America who actually thinks Trump's Tarris that he announced yesterday on aluminium and steel, and which could have come into force, I think I'm

right in saying, as early as next week, might actually be a good thing. Can you explain why

you think that? Sure. I will say that I am so far, I'm the only person who I've heard

stake out this position. I'm sure others will eventually come forward. You know, my old,

my old boss, Pat Buchanan, I'm sure is in favor of this as well. But yeah, though it is not a very

popular position with the American punditocracy or the journalism community at large.

Yes.

And that's because, I mean, America's sort of commitment to free market economics is fairly,

should we say ideological?

Yeah, I would say that the ideological grip of free traders on the elite class in America is nearly absolute.

There's very few people either in academia or in any of the prestige press that you'll ever hear praise trade restrictions of any sort,

much less the, you know, so you have a kind of perfect combination, the perfect storm.

They don't like trade restrictions and they hate Donald Trump.

So there's,

it's sort of overdetermined that this was going to be a,

you know,

overwhelmingly negative reaction to this thing.

But I mean,

...