Professor Linda Lim contributed an interesting Opinion piece (This trade war is about technology; June 30).

I, however, think that the crux of the trade war is not about technology but, rather, one man's election campaign promises and his "visions" to protect his country's own turf for its own economic gains.

For decades, the United States of America has been one of the biggest proponents of free trade and one of the most liberated trading countries in the world.

But with Mr Donald Trump assuming the presidency, America's trade philosophy has undergone a complete change - almost a full reversal.

It has incurred the wrath of many of its trading partners including Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union in imposing trade tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.

The US is looking at imposing trade tariffs as high as 25 per cent on billions of dollars worth of steel, aluminium and other goods on or with these trading partners' goods and services.

Surely, a full-blown trade war is looming, and the world economy is going to be wrecked by one person.

History has shown how a single person coming into power can impact his country. There are many examples - Kim Jong Il, Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi and Adolf Hitler, to name some.

In this case, this single person looks set to trigger not a military war but a global economic trade war.

Darren Chong