Fortune: Trump's 'Liberation Day' leaves the world trading system without a leader [View all]
Source: Fortune
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ leaves the world trading system without a leader: ‘The era of rules-based globalization and free trade is over’
Nicholas Gordon
Sat, April 5, 2025 at 8:00 PM EDT 7 min read
It’s a real trade war now.
Beijing responded to Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on Friday, slapping its own 34% tariffs on all U.S. imports, matching the new so-called reciprocal tax rate imposed by the U.S. president on Wednesday. The tariffs come into effect on April 10, one day after Trump’s tariffs.
The news shook an already spooked U.S. market, sending the S&P 500 almost 6% lower on Friday. Boeing—which once supplied a third of its 737 planes to China—dropped by over 9%. U.S.-listed Chinese companies also performed poorly, with the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index dropping by around 9%.
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Yet beyond the market reactions, China’s retaliation raises the possibility that Trump’s tariffs—despite the claims by his supporters that countries would either adjust to the new taxes, or hurry to the negotiating table to offer concessions—will send the world into an extended period of protectionism.
“Rather than fixing the rules that some U.S. trading partners took advantage of to their own benefit, Trump has chosen to blow up the system governing international trade,” Eswar Prasad, senior professor of trade policy at Cornell University, says. “He has taken the hatchet to trade with practically every major U.S. trading partner, sparing few allies or rivals.”
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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-liberation-day-leaves-world-000000313.html