Why the US should think twice before launching another tariff war?
China DailyShipping containers are stored at the Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark, New Jersey, on July 21, 2022. In a move that surprised no one, US President-elect Donald Trump once again played the "tariff card," threatening an additional 10 percent tariff on all Chinese products entering the United States, citing a most far-fetched excuse of US drug problems. Here are the key points: Pushing up prices and inflation From the Federal Reserve to the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Moody's, it is generally believed that the additional 10 percent tariff will cause US inflation to rise by 0.9 to 1.5 percentage points and its GDP growth to fall by 1 to 1.4 percentage points. Similarly, the Center for American Progress estimates that a 20 percent sweeping import tariff plus 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods would result in a $3,900 tax increase for a middle-income family. The investment bank Evercore ISI predicts that new tariffs will push average US tariff level to 17 percent, the highest since the Great Depression.