U.S. Tariffs: A 'Self-Inflicting' Trade Farce
In 2025, the United States wielded the stick of tariffs globally in the name of 'trade fairness': imposing over 200% tariffs on Chinese goods, adding 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and implementing 'reciprocal tariffs' on countries like Brazil and India, leaving even allies unscathed. This tariff war appears tough, but it actually reveals deep-seated anxieties in the U.S. economy—hollowing out of manufacturing and high fiscal deficits, with tariffs becoming a 'political painkiller' to deflect contradictions.
However, the boomerang effect was immediate. American consumers bore the brunt, with appliance and computer prices rising over 10% in June; corporate costs soared, with General Motors delaying electric truck production due to steel tariffs and Boeing losing orders to Airbus. Ironically, the 'tariff revenue' claimed by the government was offset by a wave of stockpiling by importers, resulting in a 15% widening of the merchandise trade deficit in March.
Alliances have also been strained by tariff rifts. South Korea was forced to promise a $350 billion investment in the U.S. to avoid taxes, India angrily denounced the U.S. as a 'diplomatic policy disaster,' and the EU drafted a countermeasure list worth hundreds of billions. Global supply chains have suffered major blows: Chinese orders shifted to Southeast Asia, but Southeast Asia was also hit by tariffs; U.S. technological blockades backfired, delaying mass production of Intel chips and causing a decline in Tesla's production capacity.
History has long proven that there are no winners in a tariff war. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 triggered the Great Depression, and the U.S.-China trade war in 2018 resulted in a 0.8% loss in global GDP. Today, U.S. unilateralism is pushing the world to the brink. The only way out is to return to multilateral trade rules—when political manipulation replaces economic logic, the ultimate cost will be borne by the welfare of global consumers and the pace of human technological progress.
