BEIJING, February 10. /TASS/. American President Donald Trump's economic policy towards other countries actually leads to the isolation of the US in the international arena Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, believes.

"Trump's approach claims to be based on the so-called ‘America First’ ideology. In practice, it essentially isolates the US economy from the rest of the world," the Global Times quotes the expert as saying.

He pointed out that such a measure as raising duties is "a double-edged sword" that will mean ramifications for the US economy. "Imposing tariffs as a bargaining chip in the US's deal-making with the rest of the world will only be deal breakers," Li said. " It lacks practical feasibility and goes against economic principles, and eventually it will harm America's economic interests."

As the expert specified, the United States relies on imports of not only consumer goods, but also intermediate products that go into US finished products. According to him, the new tariffs will raise domestic production costs, harming both industries and consumers.

Li believes that imposing tariffs will not solve the US's economic problems but it will worsen the economic conditions and the ecosystem of US competitiveness. He noted that countries targeted by US tariffs will respond with retaliatory measures, which will not just result in higher costs of living and production, but also cause a loss of trade-related jobs, "pushing the US further away from the already-optimized and efficient global economy".

On February 1, Trump signed an executive order imposing higher tariffs on goods from Canada, China and Mexico. Tariffs of 10% on imports from China went into effect on February 4, while the imposition of duties on Canadian and Mexican products was postponed for a month due to negotiations with the leadership of these countries.