BEIJING, April 7. /TASS/. The US' coercive tariff policy is causing huge damage to the global economy and free trade, Gao Jian, an expert with the Center for International Security and Strategy at China’s Tsinghua University, told TASS.
"[US President Donald Trump] is using intimidation and deterrence to try and blackmail other economies and gain as many bargaining chips in future bilateral trade talks as possible. He hopes to force other countries to invest directly in the US and move production to the US, as well as purchase mid-term and long-term US Treasury bonds at low interest to ease the huge American debt crisis. But even a layman can understand that his plan is difficult to put in practice," the expert said. He highlighted that the tariff increase was doing "real damage to the economies of various countries."
Gao Jian noted that over the past half century, a global trade system has taken shape which has been highly beneficial for global prosperity and the US especially. Commenting on whether Trump would stay the course with the new tariffs, the expert said that would depend on how countries around the world responded. "Trump himself is a wildcard. And here, I believe even he doesn’t know how things will unfold either," he said.
"The US’ volatile policy is damaging the global economic and trade system. Being the world’s second-biggest economy and the second-largest market for consumer goods, China sticks to a policy of remaining open to the outside world, not only for the benefit of its own economy, but also as part of its responsibility to global economic growth," the expert said.
China believes trade disputes should be resolved through dialogue, so any prolonged trade standoff with the United States will depend on how Washington proceeds, Gao Jian concluded.
On April 2, Trump announced the implementation of tariffs on products from 185 countries and territories. No new tariffs were announced for Russia. Universal 10% tariffs came into force on April 5, while individual ones will enter into effect on April 9. Moreover, the US administration imposed 25% tariffs on all imported cars starting April 3.