Will Trump's tariffs make the Middle East's struggling economies competitive?

The Middle East’s poorer countries have been struggling with warped, barely functioning economies for decades.

Jordanians and Egyptians watched Southeast Asia develop manufacturing industries that lifted millions out of poverty, whereas they withered under bloated governments, layers of red tape, and an elite engaged in rent-seeking.

Donald Trump’s decision to tear up the global trading system on Wednesday with a torrent of tariffs is, therefore, being met with a mixed reaction in these countries.

“We have lived through all this before. It’s not new for us,” an Egyptian paper manufacturer who wished to remain anonymous told Middle East Eye. “You could even say we have an advantage now because everyone else just got more expensive.”

Indeed, countries like Vietnam and Cambodia were slapped with 46 percent and 49 percent tariffs, respectively. Because the Trump administration calculated its tariff rate based on the difference between how much stuff the US buys from and sells to its trading partners, cheap manufacturing powerhouses that had their acts together got hit hardest.