"It is easier to imagine that after a series of punitive tariffs, trading partners like Europe and China become more receptive to some manner of currency accord in exchange for a reduction of tariffs."
"We can usher in a new, more balanced era of prosperity that will lift up all Americans and rebuild communities and families across the country,"he added.
"I'm not sure there's enough skill and analytical capacity in the current White House to pull this [currency accord] off,"he said.
- The US would need to borrow money to reinvest in its manufacturing sector, which would increase the value of the US dollar — the opposite of what the accord aims to do;
- Changing consumer patterns, technology and aging populations had done as much, if not more than global trade, to drive well-paying jobs out of America's industrial heartland; and
- The plan would see countries move away from the US dollar as the reserve currency, and Mr Trump has said he doesn't want that.
"The people who are claiming that there is some clever nine-dimensional chess going on here are deluding themselves because they don't want to face up to the banal reality that this is a needless policy that will impoverish people."
Loading YouTube content