Abusing trade remedies part of Trump's agenda

The decision by US President Donald Trump on Monday to impose tariffs on imported solar energy components and large washing machines, signals Washington is quickening its pace to embrace anti-trade populism under the pretext of pursuing "fair trade".

While the tariffs will do little to help US manufacturers or create jobs in these sectors, China as the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels and washing machines will obviously bear the brunt of the protectionist measures, suggesting they are the latest salvo in the Trump administration's broader trade strategy against the world's second-largest economy.

The decision comes hard on the heels of Washington derailing two deals involving Chinese companies - the planned partnership that would have seen AT&T sell Huawei's smartphones in the US market and the blocking of Alibaba's proposed acquisition of the money transfer service MoneyGram - both ostensibly on national security concerns.