Comment: A victorious Biden could struggle to shake off Trump’s legacy

A new US administration would likely not find it easy to restore ties with like-minded democracies due to the president’s actions of the past four years

Joe Biden, the Democrats’ candidate in the upcoming US election, could learn that the old belief among US partners that Americans will ‘ultimately do the right thing’ may be gone. Picture: Win McNamee/Getty Images

It would be foolish to start celebrating the end of US president Donald Trump’s administration, but it is not too soon to ponder the impact he will have left on the international economic system if his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, wins November’s election.

In some areas, a one-term Trump presidency would most likely leave an insignificant mark which Biden could easily erase. But in several others, the last four years may well come to be ...