Experts slam Trump's tariffs for sparking global economic turmoil

Economic experts have leveled scathing criticism towards U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" policy, warning of an unprecedented shockwave in the global economy and a prolonged "tariff war."

Trump on Wednesday declared a 10-percent baseline tariff on imports from all trading partners and imposed higher rates on specific ones, with the decision provoking sharp rebuke from economists, trade experts and foreign governments who view it as a misguided effort to utilize tariffs as a crude tool to tackle intricate trade disparities.

Radhika Desai, director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group, emphasized the chaos and uncertainty triggered by Trump's tariff move in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Monday.

"The world has just suffered a major, major shock. It is not clear when it will end. And President Trump has ratcheted it up the level of uncertainty. The level of uncertainty was already shooting up the moment he was elected and now it is through the roof. Stock markets are tumbling, countries have been slapped with tariffs. I read in the paper that about 50 countries have lined up to negotiate with the Trump administration, seeking a reduction in tariff. It is not at all clear that the Trump administration has the administrative capacity to engage in negotiations with all these countries. So, it is a big mess," she said.

"On top of that, I am reading that congresspeople, corporate leaders and other such influential people are afraid to oppose the Trump administration. Practically everybody can see that these tariffs are nonsense. And on top of that, the formula that they published, that according to which they calculate the tariffs is complete rubbish," Desai added.

Global stock markets traded sharply lower on Monday as financial turmoil sparked by the tariffs escalated recession fears worldwide.

In a separate interview with CGTN on Monday, Qu Qiang, a research fellow with the Belt and Road Research Center at Minzu University of China, warned that the U.S. tariffs are already leading to widespread fear of prolonged uncertainty and potential economic losses.

"I think the reason really is very obvious. The very short-term reason is that, take a look at the weekend in the last week of the European and American stock market. I think this is a flat pass and actually can trigger the global panic over this tariff war. And I think, the ultimate reason, I think, is coming from the reason behind that, which is Trump's policy against the whole global multilateral trading system, and he unilaterally put on a tariff war on everybody, no exceptions," said Qu.

"So, I think this very irrational status and standing of the American current government actually made the whole world panic, because you have to understand what we have seen right now, the global system, and also the global financial system, are based on the effect of what we call the 'one plus one, bigger than two,' which means when everybody are cooperating with each other, the whole economic side, the whole asset price will be bigger than we just singly 'plus' with each other. But when you try to reduce and remove the whole current system, probably you're going to see 'two minus one, smaller than one' effect. So, that's the reason why the whole globe has been fearing that the current situation will be lasting for longer and also the old paradigm for trade and also financial construction is going to be losing," he said.

The research fellow underscored that tariffs are likely to backfire for the U.S. economy.

"They are totally reasonable to have this kind of a projection about American economy, while American economy is not only American economy. You have to understand American economy is a very vital part of the whole global economy. So when Trump is trying to smash the other part of the supply chain all over the globe, it's not only destroying the other country or other economy, it's killing American vitality itself. So 'Make America great again' -- MAGA -- now means 'make America go away,'" said Qu.

Experts slam Trump's tariffs for sparking global economic turmoil

Experts slam Trump's tariffs for sparking global economic turmoil

The United States' push to revoke China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, or granting the Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment permanently, is a clear instance of unilateralism and trade protectionism, according to a white paper released by China's State Council Information Office on Wednesday.

The white paper, titled "China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic and Trade Relations", aims to clarify the facts about the bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries and lay out China's position on relevant issues.

The white paper said that the PNTR status is the ballast of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.

The U.S. push to revoke this status violates the rules of the World Trade Organization's (WTO), undermines China-U.S. relations, and disrupts the global economic order, the white paper noted.

According to the white paper, WTO rules require its members to unconditionally grant MFN treatment to all other members, a requirement that has binding legal force.

Over the past two decades, the PNTR has served to stabilize China-U.S. economic and trade relations. Revoking China's PNTR status will see China-U.S. economic and trade relations returning to the uncertainty and unpredictability that preceded China's accession to the WTO in 2001.

China opposes any unilateralist and protectionist acts that sabotage the multilateral trading system and hopes that the U.S. will be clearly aware of the possible harm caused by its attempt to revoke China's MFN status, the white paper said.

The white paper called on the U.S. to work constructively with the overwhelming majority of WTO members in safeguarding a fair and reasonable global economic and trade order and environment.

Rescinding China's most favored nation status undermines foundation of China-US trade relations: white paper