"Frustration is mounting in Brussels and Beijing over Donald Trump’s trade policy. The former U.S. president’s tariffs have caught the elite bureaucracies off guard and exposed their own protectionist instincts. In this global power play, the United States holds the stronger cards.
On Friday, Trump unveiled his first official trade agreement since announcing a new wave of tariffs on April 2. The United Kingdom was the first to sign on, signaling a potential shift in the global trade order.
One key bargaining chip for the U.S. is ethanol: a commodity essential to industrial production and chemical manufacturing, where America commands a 52% share of the global market. In trade talks, the U.S. is leveraging its ethanol dominance as a counterweight to Chinese control over rare earth elements and other critical raw materials.
With success—Britain agreed to open its domestic market to American agricultural goods and accept a general baseline tariff of 10% on U.S. imports, all in order to maintain access to American ethanol. This could further deepen Britain’s trade deficit, which already stands at $12 billion annually—a tactical win for Trump."
https://www.newsmax.com/finance/thomaskolbe/trump-international-trade/2025/05/12/id/1210571/
I'd say more good than bad is happening here, but that's only because I'm an America First, American.