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The age of globalisation is dead. Trump has withdrawn America.

Now we’re in an age of blocs - nations that agree to trade with each other, nations that have commonality.  

So, who are our friends and who are our friends that we get on with?  

China is our biggest trade friend, but is China our friend? No, they’re not.  

So we are into a period of delicate negotiations and that’s going to cause fewer than perfect trade deals.  

Now what do we do about America?

Some have said that the situation is not too bad - 10% as we speak.  

But our trade with America is $9 billion a year, so 10 per cent is near enough a billion dollars, which is not inconsiderable. So what should we do?

The Trade Minister and Prime Minister say it would be foolish to retaliate. We’re not in the same weight class. 

Maybe we should go the Trump playbook. We all know that Trump likes to go big and then pull back to his bottom line. 

So should we go back and say let’s call it 5%, and then wait to see where the cards lie.  

Who knows. What I do know is that the world is in chaos. Russia, China, Israel, Ukraine.  

And inflation is lurking, and uncertainty has not gone away.  

It’s time for circumspection and recognising that the elephants are dancing, and we are but mice.