America has sneezed and the rest of the world has caught a cold

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP]

US President Donald Trump rocked the world with his recent "declaration of economic independence." He announced a raft of reciprocal tariffs on goods imported into the US, including a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The entire world reacted.

A headline in the New York Times read, 'Trump trade war risks forfeiting America's economic primacy'. The article that followed it declared, "The US has steered an economic order for 80 years based on trade and trust, making the country the world's financial superpower. That vision is now blurred."