Trump Sends Tariff Threats to Fellow Countries
On July 9th, President Trump announced that he will be raising the tariff for imports, starting on August 1st, if his trade agreements are not reached. He is demanding that tariffs on imports into his country be raised by 15%-20%. This sudden announcement affects multiple countries, including China, Mexico, Canada, and other countries allying with the U.S in shipping goods.
Over two dozen countries are being threatened with raised tariffs, and many of them have the tariffs raised to over 25%. However, some countries are way more affected than others, including China. According to BBC News, “Trump unveiled a 10% tariff on goods from China on 4 February which doubled to 20% a month later.
On 2 April, Trump imposed a universal 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US, on what he called “Liberation Day”. But some nations, including China, were subjected to higher rates. China retaliated with its own tariffs, and a war of words between President Xi and Trump led to the US imposing a 145% levy on Chinese imports on 9 April.” This shows that Trump is very brash when trying to get the tariffs on these countries raised.
Though the tariffs are harsh, Trump claims that there is a good reason for these taxes, saying that they will make commerce fairer. According to BBC News, “Trump says tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy more American-made goods, increase the amount of tax raised and lead to huge levels of investment.” Clearly, the president wants to raise the level of investment from consumers inside the U.S and help to support the country by using tariffs to show how unfair the trades made between countries can be. But many people hearing this news do not like this way of declaring injustice, since it can lead to many negative outcomes.
The actions of President Trump can lead to justice for trades, or they can lead America into chaos. Though it’s true that commerce between countries may not always be fair, threatening other countries with high tariffs may not be the way to announce it. Wendly Cutler, Vice President at Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), says “As more and more countries are feeling that it’s more difficult to satisfy U.S. demands, then their interest in working with others is going to intensify,” This proves that because Trump is threatening to raise tariffs, more countries are going to stop working with U.S when it comes to trading products and goods, instead looking for other partners to deal business.
President J. Trump has had a lot of good ideas when trying to make the country better, but this choice is leaving citizens troubled and confused. The consequences of the tariffs are not confirmed yet, but one thing is clear: threatening countries with high tariffs can’t end well.
