US new tariff policy bucks global trend, harms itself: Japanese economist

The fresh U.S. tariff policy means protectionism which bucks the trend of the world economy and is bound to pose risks to the United States itself, a Japanese economist said on Saturday.

As part of the "reciprocal tariffs" announced by President Donald Trump, Japan will be subject to a 24 percent levy on its exports to the U.S.

Furthermore, a previously announced 25 percent tariff on all car imports took effect as scheduled on Thursday in the U.S., dealing a major blow to the Japanese auto industry.

Hidetoshi Tashiro, chief economist at Infinity LLC, a Japanese consulting firm advising stock trading and real estate management, said Japan's pillar automobile industry will bear the brunt of the U.S. reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on automobiles, with some companies even facing a life-or-death crisis.

The expert believes that the U.S. tariff policy will also worsen inflation in the United States and have a negative effect on global trade.

"This tariff policy will only add fuel to the fire, rather than extinguishing it. In the current environment of severe high prices in the U.S., the life of U.S. citizens will become even more difficult. Moreover, under the impact of this tariff policy, global trade volume will clearly shrink. The production of exported goods from various countries will decrease. This tariff policy is completely unreasonable for the development of the global economy, and even for the development of the U.S. economy itself," he said.

The expert believes that the U.S. trade protectionism is at odds with global economic trends.

"The U.S. is no longer engaging in free trade at all, or we can even say it is undermining free trade. It's not just protectionism, it's essentially destroying free trade. The United States is disconnecting from the world economy, and this is a very serious issue," said the economist.

US new tariff policy bucks global trend, harms itself: Japanese economist

US new tariff policy bucks global trend, harms itself: Japanese economist

US new tariff policy bucks global trend, harms itself: Japanese economist

China's sharp countermeasures against U.S. "reciprocal tariffs" demonstrate the country's zero tolerance towards actions that undermine the global multilateral trading system, according to an expert.

Amid widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs", imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" on all imported goods and higher rates on certain trading partners. The order took effect from Saturday.

For China, it faces a 34-percent tariff from the United States. That was on top of the existing tariff of 20 percent.

Following the U.S. decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese exports to the United States, China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said Friday that the move taken by the U.S. does not conform to international trade rules, seriously undermines China's legitimate rights and interests, and represents a typical act of unilateral bullying.

It also announced that China will impose additional 34-percent tariffs on all products imported from the United States starting from April 10.

Wang Yaojing, assistant professor of economics with Peking University, pointed out that China's countermeasures shows its clear stance in opposing unilateralism and protectionism.

"China's countermeasures clearly demonstrate zero tolerance against actions that seek to undermine the global multilateral trading ecosystem. These harmful moves have far-reaching consequences for the global economy. And China's countermeasures are both well-prepared and timely," Wang emphasized.

China’s countermeasures show zero tolerance towards US unilateralism, protectionism: expert