Negative impact of ‘America First’ on migration and int’l trade

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There’s widespread interest in the potential and actual ramifications of Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda on migration governance and international trade.

This interest is largely due to the fact that domestic and regional affairs in Jamaica and the wider Latin America and the Caribbean region are deeply interconnected, and issue framing in international relations are shaped by supporting and opposing coalitions of interest groups and policies that operate transnationally.

Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy agenda will have a profound impact on migration governance, whereby his philosophical world-view is influenced by the following statement: “untrustworthy states produce untrustworthy citizens”.

Therefore, this ‘enemy image’ imposed on the majority of the world, especially on developing countries, is not only an exemplification of Trump’s close-minded cognition, but also the fact that there will be intensified surveillance to monitor the duration of stay of temporary migrants, including J1 visa holders.

The intensified border control and regulation policies will also affect groups of migrants who are portrayed as ‘not belonging to’ the dominant American nation-state, based on a long historical and socio-cultural trajectory of discriminatory and exclusionary reforms. Trump’s rise to power as US president re-invokes public discourses and sentiments of racist, xenophobic nationalism and state-sanctioned violence against marginalised communities.

This is evident in his appointment of billionaire czars to key positions on immigration reform and international education. Inflow of remittances will be severely affected should Trump treads the dangerous path of mass deportations of undocumented migrants and refugees. Based on data from Jamaica’s Migration Profile, remittances have exceeded US$2.2 billion since 2016 from migrants abroad to their friends and families in Jamaica. The Planning Institute of Jamaica has mentioned that remittances are the fourth-highest source of income before, during and after COVID-19 for low-income households in Jamaica to meet their daily needs. Trump’s foreign policy agenda will erode any real attempt or progress towards poverty reduction and development in small island developing states, including Jamaica.

Additionally, there is growing concern that the US and Europe have always played a pivotal role in the determination and execution of international trade policy. Developing countries like Jamaica are known to not carry much political leverage in multilateral organisations, negotiations and decision-making.

Trump’s rise is likely to amplify existing difficulties in reforming multilateral rules that are unfair and discriminatory against developing countries. His ‘America First’ foreign policy agenda” and punitive/domineering approach to negotiations will also contribute to increased global supply-chain disruptions, with his threats to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China through various free trade agreements.

TINA RENIER