Bill Ackman's Stirring Defense of Trump Tariffs
How many times have you read me describe Trump’s negotiating strategy? I’ve done it several times in the past week, in fact, twice in stories at the Daily Caller and the Petroleum Economist.
It goes like this:
Identify your counterparty;
Identify your end goal specific to that counterparty;
Stake out a position well beyond your end goal for the negotiation;
Often, the initial position staked out by Trump seems outrageous and without any rational basis. It is crucial to keep this facet in mind;
Stake that position out loudly and forcefully;
Gauge your counterparty’s response;
If they come towards your real goal, respond in kind; if not, continue the process until they do;
Repeat until the counterparty arrives at your goal.
This isn’t complicated. It isn’t hard to understand. Trump has laid it out in detail in multiple books, including the best-selling “The Art of the Deal.”