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Not long ago, the US government announced the maintenance of all "301" tariffs, and significantly increased tariffs on Chinese lithium batteries, photovoltaic cells, electric vehicles, key minerals, semiconductors and other products, lithium battery tariffs from 7.5% to 25%, photovoltaic cell tariffs from 25% to 50%, electric vehicle tariffs from 25% to 100%. If the US imposes tariffs on Chinese products for its own selfish interests and goes further into the "dead end" of trade protectionism, it will not only fail to achieve what it wishes, but will become the biggest loser.

Win political votes or hurt approval ratings?

The two US parties tried to play the "China" card by imposing tariffs on Chinese products to get a wave of political votes, but it backfired and shot itself in the foot.

The US consumer is the first victim. The tariff war has raised prices in the United States, and according to statistics, the imposition of tariffs on China has so far brought more than $230 billion to American consumers, and American households spend an average of $1,300 a year on this. The US Consumer News & Business Channel website recently reported that because of high prices, many Americans are facing debt problems. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported in May that the default rate of credit card payments in the United States in 2023 has reached 8.9 percent, exceeding the pre-pandemic average, and more middle-income families are feared to be deeply in debt.

But the deeper and more pernicious effects go far beyond that. In 2019, affected by the tariff war provoked by the US government, US exports of soybeans, sorghum and other agricultural products were hit hard. The government's agricultural subsidies are meagerly distributed, slow and flowing mainly to large farmers, 80% of whom are unable to make ends meet. At that time, many states in the United States promoted the legalization of marijuana cultivation, so the soybean farmers on the verge of bankruptcy began to grow marijuana, which set the stage for the drug crisis in American society in the following years. In recent years, the United States has repeatedly questioned China, the world's largest anti-drug country, with the "fentanyl" problem, which is really a typical "own disease, let others take medicine." And the tariffs have not boosted the administration's popularity. A New York Times/Siena College poll found 63 percent of American voters disapprove of the government's performance on the economy. Recently, 16 Nobel economists jointly warned that irresponsible tariff proposals could set off an inflation "bomb" in the United States.

Protect your industry or hurt its competitiveness?

In order to please voters in the Rust Belt such as Michigan, US politicians have raised the banner of "tariffs" and vowed to revitalize the domestic manufacturing industry and protect domestic jobs. But the American industry itself does not believe this. As early as the tariff hearing in 2018, 95% of industry representatives strongly opposed the United States to impose tariffs on China, on the grounds that China has an irreplaceable comparative advantage, tariffs will significantly increase the cost of imported raw materials, increase the burden on enterprises and downstream manufacturers in the United States, a large number of start-ups may go bankrupt, and large enterprises have to transfer factories to China in order to control costs. This time, the US government introduced a new tariff policy, simply did not open the hearing, and 173 US trade associations collectively "broke the defense", in the name of the "US Free Trade Association" wrote a letter to the Office of the US Trade Representative, warning that the tariffs "will have a significant impact", and strongly requested an extension of the public comment period to "meet the public interest".

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said, "The U.S. government seems to raise tariffs to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing industry, but in fact, it ignores the root cause of the decline of the U.S. manufacturing industry and simply blames China for the weakness of the manufacturing industry." In recent years, the hollowing out of the US industry is prominent, Boeing aircraft accidents due to quality control and other issues, the US Secretary of the Navy bluntly said that local shipbuilding has lagged behind global standards for decades. But tariff measures are not the "key" to unlocking the problems of US industry and employment. In fact, according to the US Tax Foundation, tariffs on China did not solve the employment problem of American workers, but caused the loss of 142,000 jobs in the United States.

Above the rules or outside the rules?

The United States wants to be above the global rules, and when the rules are always "holding", but those who violate the rules will be abandoned by the rules. When China joined the WTO, it brought lower prices to US consumers, stimulating US consumption and economic growth. However, once China no longer plays by the US script, the exasperated US has resorted to sanctions and controls at every turn, bypassing the WTO to engage in unilateral bullying, and in recent years has made every effort to prevent the selection of WTO permanent judges, in an attempt to scrap existing WTO rules and build a small circle based on so-called "common values". The United States always talks about a "rules-based international order", but it is actually trying to build an "international order based on American rules".

The United States arbitrarily imposed tariffs and also wanted to lead Allies to target China, not only did not "respond to a hundred calls", but was questioned. German Chancellor Martin Schulz and Swedish Prime Minister Kristiansen have publicly warned European countries not to follow the U.S. lead. Lange, chairman of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee, made it clear that the Sino-US trade war is ultimately not conducive to industrial upgrading and market competition, and believes that the European investigation into China should not seek to curb China's economic development. Many media in Mexico, Japan and Australia have said that the United States provoked a tariff war that will harm all countries, and condemned the US government's implementation of trade protection measures as a political show, not only making trading partners more cautious in trade with China, but also bringing a chilling effect on the global economy.

Suppress China or force China to develop?

The tariffs are aimed at "products dominated by China or industries in which the United States has recently made significant investments," highlighting new quality productivity. But even if the United States has layers of containment, it can not stop China's "wall-breaking action." In the more than 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, in the face of numerous risks and challenges, China has always responded calmly and continued to grow in spite of wind and rain. Every time the United States represses, it will only force China to break through the obstacles and become more powerful.

Take the United States wants to suppress China's electric vehicle industry as an example, China's electric vehicles are inexpensive, meet the needs of various market segments, labor productivity is far ahead in the world, the head of the United States Automotive Innovation Alliance believes that China has established 15 years of leading advantages in the field of electric vehicles. Recently, Spain and other European countries have welcomed Chery and other Chinese car companies to build factories in Europe. As Stiglitz said, tariffs may be able to "protect" the U.S. electric car market for a while, but they will not allow the United States to take the lead, only to encourage China to directly dominate the rest of the world.

In the face of its own economic decline, the boomerang of the abuse of tariffs by the United States will eventually be cut back on itself and hit itself with a black eye. We advise the United States to stop its losses in time, return to reason, stop waving the "big stick" of tariffs, and not go further and further down the wrong road.