SOME OF the targets of President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, such as China and the European Union, are fighting back. South Korea and Japan feel they have to play nice. They are terrified that Mr Trump will weaken or even withdraw the security guarantees that have kept them safe for over seven decades. So as he insists on a “one-stop shop” negotiation, bundling trade and other economic issues with security, they are scrambling to offer him goodies. “Through co-operative negotiations with the United States, we will be able to find some win-win solutions,” Han Duck-soo, South Korea’s acting president, tells The Economist.
