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Justin Trudeau

We need to prepare Sweden for a trade war
Donald Trump will soon come after your wallet
 

Anders Lindberg

Political editor-in-chief

Aftonbladet's editorial page is independent social democratic.

Published 16.00

         

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Photo: Justin Tang / AP

        

         Can French soldiers save Greenland?

The brochure ” If the crisis or war comes ” states that you can lie in the trenches in the event of an air raid and have water cans at home. Sveriges Radio P4 is a preparedness channel and it is important to have complicated passwords on the internet.

It is a very good brochure.

But it does not say anything about what you should do in the event of a trade war.

And on Saturday, Donald Trump blew the whistle on war. First against Mexico, Canada and China. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised strong countermeasures. Soon it will be the EU's turn.

“The European Union has treated us very badly,” Donald Trump told Reuters.

More expensive than ever

Sweden is an export-dependent country and if Trump takes the threats seriously, the effects would be felt everywhere. Even in your wallet.

“Swedish exports to the US would decrease by 16 percent, which is significant,” says Michael Koch at the Swedish Board of Trade.

In addition, the risk of a chain reaction that damages the entire world economy is obvious. So just when we are starting to see some light, there is a risk that we will fall back into the dismal inflation and half-dead growth of recent years.

Prices in stores will go up even further.

What will we respond to?

The EU’s response will be coordinated through the European Commission, which has been working hard to push for a higher level of pressure since Donald Trump was elected. If the US imposes tariffs on us, we will respond in kind.

Personally, I think the most effective thing would be to target the tariffs against Donald Trump’s political allies, such as Tesla and the various tech giants who, like Russian oligarchs, are now gaining more and more influence.

Chrystia Freeland, one of the candidates to become the next prime minister of Canada, has proposed punitive tariffs of 100 percent on Tesla in particular. This may be something for the EU to consider.

We in Sweden must also start preparing ourselves. A trade war with the US would affect Swedish companies and many jobs here. But here we must also be self-critical. Are our preparedness really good?

Dependence on the US

We need to consider our dependence on the US. Both as a country and for Swedish business. Is it sustainable in a world where “America first” increasingly seems to mean that only the interests of the US should count, even when it comes at the expense of close allies?

In many areas, such as high technology and the defense industry, we are far too dependent on relations across the Atlantic functioning. What happens to all of this if the US, for example, takes Greenland from Denmark?

The reasonable answer is that our active strategy should be to increase our cooperation within the Nordic countries and with other European countries instead.

The US is no longer a reliable partner.