Not just economic taboos, Trump's moves are also shattering US' credibility

Part of the concern is that Trump's actions will give other governments cover to do the things that America has spent decades telling them not to do

On the receiving end of Donald Trump’s crusade against the global economic order, it’s often assumed, are faceless multilateral institutions or the rules that have governed international commerce since World War II.

But after a week in which the US president broke two longstanding taboos, it may be his successors who pay the real price, according to senior officials from past administrations who say decades of diplomacy -- and America’s future credibility -- is at risk.

On Tuesday, Trump directly linked his trade war with China to Federal Reserve interest-rate policy -- and also to a criminal case against a Huawei executive,