It is tempting to see Donald Trump and his wrecking policies on trade as a destructive thunderbolt from a clear blue sky. Certainly many of his domestic policies, even compared with his first term, have taken a sharper and more definitive turn towards the extreme.
In the case of trade and globalisation, however, there is perhaps a little more continuity, not just with his first time in office but with previous US administrations. Regardless of whether it was actually reflected in broad US public opinion, there were clear strands of thought in US politics which had already begun to treat trade deals and often trade itself as toxic.
Trump’s tariffs are the most extraordinary act of far-reaching protectionism since at least the Great Depression, but there has been a latent inclination in US politics towards blaming trade for everything that has gone wrong with the US economy and society.