Published in the Financial Times

March 3rd 2017

Sir, It should come as no surprise that an “America First” Trump administration is likely to override the free market strictures of the World Trade Organisation (“Trump prepared to ignore WTO rulings”, March 2). What is more disturbing from a UK perspective is how trade secretary Liam Fox’s head is still stuck in the sands of pre-2008 neoliberalism (“Fox warns of EU-UK trade barriers danger”, March 2). This means he is unable to grasp that it was the opposition to open borders to goods and capital as well as people that fuelled the Brexit result, Donald Trump’s election and the continued rise of Marine Le Pen in the French polls.

These unstoppable trends all point to the conclusion that the future will be one of protectionism. The question is, what kind? President Trump is a 1930s-style one-sided protectionist. He wants to curb imports that cause domestic unemployment, but at the same time plans to use “all possible leverage” to open up foreign markets to US exports. To avoid a re-run of the 1930s, when the US and others took a similar approach, will require a very different kind of “progressive protectionism”. This will be one that can benefit all countries by nurturing and rebuilding local economies in a way that permanently reduces the level of international trade in goods, money and services and enables nation states to control the level of migration that their citizens desire. This approach can return a sense of optimism to the majority through championing policies geared to achieving more job security, a decrease in inequality, and protection of the environment globally.

Colin Hines East Twickenham, Middx, UK