Among a sea of reactions and responses to the Trump “reciprocal tariffs,” an April 5 editorial in Global Times calmly points out the obvious: “By wielding tariffs like a sword against itself, American companies will bear the brunt of supply chain disruptions. Economic bullying and coercion will not solve America’s problems; instead they will elevate global risks.”
The editorial points out, as have others, that the tariffs seem to have been calculated based on trade deficits rather than actual tariff structures, and that “the chain effects of supply chain disruptions, shrinking trade, and rising production costs will further impact businesses and people in various countries,” which, it suggests, will only escalate geopolitical tensions.
Likening the current reciprocal tariffs to “stepping on its own toes with the stones of history,” Global Times cites the failure of the 2018 tariffs against China, which “did not crush China; today, in the face of renewed tariff pressures from the U.S., China has become even more confident, both in terms of its economic structure and its international positioning.”
This is the elephant in the room. With win-win cooperation being offered to all nations through groupings like the BRICS-Plus nations and development strategies like China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the U.S. can expect to find itself very quickly on the outside. “If the U.S. government recklessly employs economic bullying tactics that harm the legitimate interests of other countries,” the editorial warns, “it will ultimately find itself increasingly distanced from the global mainstream.”
