Some clever people have come up with acronyms based on Mexican food to describe the disruptive and unprecedented U.S. presidential presidency of Donald Trump. TACO - Trump Always Chickens out - is an acronym that reflects the U.S. president's tendency to escalate a situation, before retreating when the political and economic costs become too high. EMPANADA - Everybody Makes Promises But Nobody Delivers Anything - was used to describe countries that made outrageous and impossible trade promises with the hope of avoiding Trump's tariffs. NACHO -- Not a Chance Hormuz opens -- was popular in recent years. After Washington and Tehran signed a peace agreement on June 17, the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital to international trade, was reopened in a limited way. Even this partial relief, however, is in doubt after Trump stated on Wednesday that MOUs are "over", reviving the threat that the waterway may again become a point of pressure.

The best Mexican food acronym to describe Trump is TAMALES. This stands for Trump Always Plays Games, and Leaves Everyone Shafted. The sector that is most affected by Trump’s policies and decisions, however, is the commodity trade. Trump's policies, from his tariffs on U.S. copper and aluminum imports to his Iran War, have caused market distortions around the world. This includes supply chain disruptions as well as higher inflation.

IRAN MISCALCULATION This impact was most pronounced in the war he and Israel started against Iran on 28 February. The U.S. has suffered a strategic and financial defeat despite initial military victories. None of the stated goals, such as eliminating Iran's missile capability, were achieved. Iran's new and more hardline rulers learned to hold the world economy at ransom by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Prior to the conflict, around 20% of crude oil, refined petroleum products, and liquefied gas (LNG), as well as significant quantities of sulphur, and aluminium, passed through the narrow waterway. The Gulf has now become a source of increased risk for crude oil, refined products and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Gulf producers, U.S. Allies, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, now have to deal a more confident?Iran. It is likely that Iran will also have more money, if any final agreement with Trump results in the releasing of blocked funds, and the lifting of sanctions on Iran's exports. Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, Singapore, and to a certain extent China, India, who rely on Middle East?crude, will now need to rethink their energy security. It may be necessary to increase the size of and diversify the locations for their strategic reserves. This includes not only crude oil and fuels, but also metals and commodities like sulphur which is a key input in fertilisers as well as the sulphuric acids used to process metal ore.

On Wednesday, crude oil prices jumped over 4% to a new two-week record high amid fears of a fresh disruption in Middle East supply. The prices of refined fuels like diesel and gasoline are still high in Asia. This is a cost to consumers and businesses.

VOLATILITY OF COPPER Expectations that Trump, upon returning to office last January, would impose tariffs up to 50% on U.S. imports of copper led to a surge in the imports as the premium between domestic prices and the global benchmark at the London Metal Exchange widened. Trump's presidency is marked by a pattern of volatility and unintended effects. His policies and actions fail to achieve the stated goals. Tariffs aren't reducing the U.S. deficit in trade, nor has it resulted in a significant revival of manufacturing.

They have also shifted the flow of commodities around the world and boosted inflation. The Iran War did not result in a regime change, or remove the threat posed by Tehran's nuclear program or missiles.

It did, however, increase fuel prices and inflation, pose a threat to energy security around the world, and force a reconsideration of the U.S.'s power and influence and its value as a less reliable ally.

TAMALES is a good acronym to represent the Mexican dish that Trump will be serving. TAMALES suffers the same flaw as TACO, NACHO, and EMPANADA - it's not always 100% accurate. It's the word "always". Sometimes, the Trump administration implements policies that are effective. Its efforts to build supply chains of critical minerals that are not under the control or influence of China is one example. The Trump administration signed numerous agreements to increase mining and processing capacities for minerals like rare earths and lithium. The Trump administration has signed numerous agreements with countries to develop mining and processing capacity for minerals such as rare earths, lithium, cobalt and tungsten. The Trump 'administration could make acronyms such as TACO or TAMALES obsolete if they could adopt this approach. The risk is that his incompetence and delusion, which have characterized his second term to date, will continue disrupting markets during his remaining tenure in office.

(source: Reuters)