Bangladesh, May 17 -- In a sharp departure from decades of bilateral trade diplomacy, US President Donald Trump announced on May 16 that his administration would cease negotiating individual tariff agreements with Americas trade partners. Instead, Washington will notify some 150 countries of new tariff rates via official correspondence, effectively ending talks in favor of a blanket approach to trade policy.

The announcement came during a business roundtable in Saudi Arabia, where Trump doubled down on his new protectionist economic vision. Speaking to a group of regional business leaders, Trump justified the move by claiming that the number of nations seeking bilateral trade talks had become unmanageable. “At the same time, we hav...