SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: rump is looking to "dismantle the system" and build a "fundamentally different kind of world" which is essentially founded on bullying and injustice:

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1912688439923024289

Arnaud Bertrand

Wow, this is probably the strongest criticism of America by a Singaporean leader since Lee Kuan Yew. And fittingly it's by his son, ex-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who says that Trump is looking to "dismantle the system" and build a "fundamentally different kind of world" which is essentially founded on bullying and injustice: "[The US] want to dismantle the system... It is a fundamentally different kind of world which the US is looking for and pushing for. And the approach is not win-win, but win-lose. In other words, the US wants to do well for themselves. They really do not mind whether the other countries do well for themselves. This is bad for the world [because]: 1) You are going to have different rules for different countries. Small countries will suffer because they have no bargaining power. But even big countries will not do well because there is going to be a lot of confusion, a lot of uncertainties, a lot of differences in the rules. 2) The tariffs – whether they are equal or unequal – and in this case, they will become unequal – will choke off trade, will raise costs, and will dampen growth. 3) When other countries retaliate, then you must expect back and forth, tit-for-tat. It has happened with China. It will happen with other countries. Then it will cause a downward spiral and the impact will be even worse. 4) If the supply chains are disrupted, if you get hit by 100% tariffs... industries can be disrupted. Businesses can be totally turned upside down. You may have the whole business model suddenly disappear and not just not hiring more people, but you may find yourself all of a sudden with a lot of surplus workers. How to look after them? And that can very quickly lead to recession – recession in the US itself, and impact elsewhere too. 5) All these new tariffs – this is something which is going to last a very long time. It is not going to go away soon, because once you put in a tariff, once you protect your market, it is very difficult to take it away. People get used to it. Some companies may invest. You put in a tariff, you say, “Come invest in America”. So I invest in America. It is really not competitive. You want to build Christmas trees in the US – it is very expensive, where to find workers? But after you have got the tariff and after the Christmas tree factory has come up, then you want to undo it. The factory says, “I am going to die, please help me”. So you cannot undo it anymore. It is there. It is a reality." Source: pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/SM-Le