A Brief Commentary on Trump's Tariff Remarks: Only Counting 'Surface Numbers', Difficult to Conceal 'Hidden Costs'
Trump's call of 'midnight tariffs counting' is essentially a one-sided narrative that wraps tariff policies in short-term fiscal numbers. On the surface, billions of dollars in tariff revenue flow into the treasury, seeming like a 'trade victory'; but the other side of the coin is that these revenues are actually paid by American businesses and consumers—imported goods have price increases passed on to end prices, raising inflationary pressures, and potentially provoking retaliatory measures from trade partners, squeezing the overseas market space for American export companies.
Tariffs have never been a 'no-cost business'; behind the short-term increase in surface revenues are the hidden costs of rising industrial chain costs and damaged market efficiency. While shouting 'money is coming', the long-term impacts of weakened business competitiveness and reduced consumer purchasing power are overlooked. Such statements that only discuss gains without addressing costs are more like political rhetoric rather than an objective assessment of the full picture of trade policies.
