Trump is the wrong man to deny dolls to America's daughters
At a Cabinet meeting last week, he downplayed the impact of his trade policy on American consumers, quipping that 'maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls … And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally'. He liked the line so much that he repeated a version of it during an interview on Meet the Press. He explained that 'they don't need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don't need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.'
Sure enough, Mattel, America's biggest toy company by sales, has now warned that Americans could soon see price increases as a result of Trump's trade war. 'There's no question that tariffs are creating disruption in the industry,' said Mattel chief executive, Ynon Kreiz. 'Many companies have stopped production and shipping to the US as a result of tariffs from China.'
Still, at least the president is being upfront about the consequences of his trade policy. After all, on 'liberation day', when he announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs on America's trading partners, he wasn't saying Americans should prepare to pay more for less. Far from it, he was promising a 'golden age of America' .
'April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,' insisted Trump, whose administration has often contradicted itself by claiming tariffs can be a revenue source, a bargaining chip for better trade terms, and a way to rebuild industry all at the same time.
It's only been a little more than a month, and yet the president's tone has shifted dramatically. It's not wealth and golden ages on the tip of his tongue, but price hikes and the equivalent of wartime austerity.
Only the United States isn't at war, and isn't facing an existential threat due to foreign trade. Indeed, Trump is calling on his voters to make sacrifices not on behalf of something that is destined to deliver enormous returns over time, but over a dubious policy that his administration has executed appallingly.
The president's fixation with tariffs is informed by poor logic and worse history. He seems to think that any country exporting to the United States is ripping us off, and has made the risible assertion that the proximate cause of the Great Depression was that tariffs were too low. If only one of his more well-intentioned advisers were to google 'Smoot-Hawley' and show him the results.
Unfortunately for the president, voters do not seem to agree that he is ushering in a new golden age. In the days since their 'liberation', Trump's approval rating has cratered, and deservedly so.
Because while Trump may think that children won't mind fewer dolls in the cause of rendering US manufacturing artificially more competitive, Americans have realised that the immediate consequence is likely to be higher prices, less choice, and inferior quality products across the board.
The fact that their fate is being downplayed by President Trump is likely to be even more galling. He came to fame by making his name synonymous with wealth and success. He rose from the political ashes to take back the White House last year largely because Americans associated his first term in office with an economic boom. He's also no stranger to what many might consider superfluous stuff – from the gold ornamentation that now adorns the Oval Office to Trump-themed merchandise.
So even if there was a strong case for Americans to be buying fewer dolls for their daughters, President Trump would be the wrong person to make it. His appeal has always been as the man to bring America guilt-free abundance. Not austerity and hardship.
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But it is more likely that travel from the UK to Canada will be via the US – which requires you to go through the onerous business of getting an Esta permit and clearing the US frontier for the hour or two you will be spending there between flights. While passengers are waiting to be flown where they need to be, they can expect to be provided with hotel accommodation and meals if necessary. From Canada – or elsewhere outside Europe, such as the US If your journey begins in Canada, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) apply. For cancellations that are the airline's responsibility, travellers would be entitled to compensation as well as hotels and meals as necessary. But unlike European air passengers' rights rules, the Canadian regulations excuse airlines a duty of care if the cause of disruption is outside its control. According to the APPR, 'a labour disruption within the carrier' is regarded as beyond an airline's control. So there is no entitlement to care. Air Canada is telling many travellers that they should cancel and take a refund – leaving them high and dry to find and pay for a replacement flight. From the US and elsewhere, passengers have no significant rights. I am on a package holiday – does that make a difference? Yes. Under the Package Travel Regulations, the tour operator (the firm that put together the holiday) is responsible for the actions of the airlines it uses. The rules stipulate: 'If any of the travel services are not performed in accordance with the package travel contract, the organiser must remedy the lack of conformity'. In the context of the Air Canada dispute, that would mean finding alternative flights and paying for hotels while travellers are waiting. The only get-outs are if finding alternative flights is impossible or 'entails disproportionate costs'. Neither appears to cover this case, unless only business-class seats costing many thousands of pounds were available. Could travel insurance help? For additional expenses incurred as a result of the strike that cannot be covered by anyone else, you can claim on travel insurance. But you would be expected to approach the airline first before claiming for out-of-pocket costs. Will I get compensation? Possibly for a flight leaving from a UK airport. Under British air passengers' rights rules, there is no consensus that industrial action entitles travellers whose flights are cancelled to claim cash compensation. All you can do is try. Canada's APPR holds that strikes are outside Air Canada's control and no compensation is payable. How long will this go on? It is difficult to say. Air Canada is losing an estimated C$50m (£27m) per day in revenue while the strike continues. It is also sustaining substantial reputational damage. The airline hopes cabin crew will return to work over the next few days. Even if that happens – and the fury among union members suggests it may not – it will be days before the operation is back on track.
