BOISmag n°223
Trump, America, and the World Order: an explosive trio
On November 6, 2024, Donald Trump became, at 78, the 47th President of the United States of America. Re-elected without contest to lead the world’s leading power for a second four-year term, the Republican ran, as usual, a highly emphatic campaign, mincing neither his words nor his opinions. While the result of the vote is indisputable, the statements and campaign promises of the candidate-president leave certain uncertainties—indeed worries—hanging over the economic, environmental, and geopolitical future of Uncle Sam… and the planet in general.
Widely covered by media around the world, the former real-estate magnate’s penchant for American protectionism and his desire to reshore production to revive the U.S. economy are no secret to anyone. Nor is his glaring lack of interest in ecology! After expressing, during his first term in 2017, his wish to exit the Paris Climate Agreement; after imposing customs duties on the softwood lumber trade with Canada that same year; and after repeatedly calling global warming a “hoax”—even though the United States has hardly been spared, given the intensity of recent hurricanes that hit Florida and ever-larger wildfires in California—the new American president is pressing ahead with other “bright ideas” waiting in the drawer…
While on the campaign trail, he held his ground and did not hesitate to restate his intention to exploit old-growth forests—biodiversity reserves—currently protected by law; to tighten customs rules even further with Canada; to reiterate his plan to withdraw from the Paris Agreement; to favor domestic production of fossil fuels at the expense of renewables… or to apply tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese goods, including wood products! Not to mention Europe or Mexico, which he also promises their share of tariffs and all manner of import controls.
If the inauguration of the new president is scheduled for January 20, the world is already in a state of turmoil. The end of the American dream? A Europe left on its own? An economic clash with China? Border closures? Donald Trump’s victory in these 47th presidential elections across the Atlantic is, in any case, set to shift the lines of global trade and international relations in general, with an inevitable impact on France—its economy, its politics… and its forest–wood sector!
Adèle Cazier