Trump’s Trade War Against China: A headless decision resulting in catastrophic consequences for the US Economy I

Dr. Syed Mehboob

Senior Business and Political Analyst

http://www.thenewslark.com

email:drmehboob.thenewslark@gmail.com

China believes in and acts to promote trade, investment, cooperation, partnership for development, peace, and integrity, and for the betterment of the lives of its people and its partners. Unlike China, the USA believes in, acts, and promotes war, conflicts, and gets benefits at the cost of the lives of people of other countries. The US and other Western countries failed to defeat China and become less competitive because the Chinese are very hard working, their leadership is committed, sincere, patriotic, and visionary. China defeated every move to counter its progress, development, and economic advancement. This irritated much to the USA, especially President Trump, who is famous for his impulsive decisions. Look at the speed at which Trump imposed tariffs on China:

In retaliation, China imposed tariffs in the following manner:

The American Market economy was shocked by these tariffs, and Trump was forced to retreat on 13^th April 2025. Trump excluded Chinese electronics from tariffs.  Chinese leadership played its cards smartly and took many countersteps. President XI Jinping visited Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia. President XI, as a wise leader, is aware of the consequences of this trade war and said, “ Trade and Tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead to nowhere.”

China is a responsible and reliable global partner in Trade. It promises and promotes stability and investment. China signed forty agreements with Vietnam to promote bilateral trade and investment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Malaysia from 15^th to 17^th April 2025, which was his first visit to Malaysia in twelve years since 2013. This shows that China is still at the forefront of the Global Trade and Economic Scenario. American companies Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft opposed Trump’s tariff war. Apple lifted about 600 iPhones about 1.50 million from India to beat Trump’s tariff initiative. Due to Trump’s tariff war, investors’ confidence is falling in the American economy, the dollar reached a six-month low as the WORST THAN RECISSION warning was issued by businesspeople and economists. American markets and businesses depend on China. Electronics is the biggest category of the US imports from China. Smartphones, Laptops, and Computers make up to 20% of the total imports from China. Tariffs made electronics unaffordable for American consumers. China supplies 90% of all iPhones and 81% of Laptops and Personal Computers (PCs). If Tariffs were imposed on these items, it would make a big difference.

16 Promax was sold for US$ 1,120, and if tariffs were imposed, it might cost US$ 2,150 and resultingina difference of US$ 1,030. Therefore, 56% of consumers opposed these tariffs, which means the majority of the people were not in its favour and Trump was forced to take back tariffs on electronic items. American billionaire Raymond Thomas Dalio warned of a worse-than-recession-like situation if Trump did not make decisions thoughtfully. Chinese exports to the USA are about US$ 550 billion, and Imports are US$ 185 billion, and the trade volume is US$ 735 billion. China has a trade surplus of US$ 365 billion, and the US has a deficit of the same amount.

Trump also tried to impose a trade war on China in his first tenure, and by 2019 US economy lost 300,000 jobs and estimated 0.3% of its real GDP. During this period, American companies lost US$ 1,700 billion due to this war. In 2020 US and China signed a partial trade deal, which led China to buy US$ 200 billion worth of American goods.

Chinese Share in US Trade

US share in Chinese Trade

The world was already moving from unipolar to multipolar. It is now going to be changed further. The USA and European countries called themselves Champions of Human Rights, but what happened in Gaza and what is happening right now has exposed their ugly face and snatched the veil from their faces. Now they are not Human Rights Champions, they are the worst violators of Human Rights laws. They also called themselves the champions of globalization and International Trade, but now they are reversing the world from trade liberalization and globalization and moving towards protectionism. 

On 2^nd April 2025, President Donald Trump announced Liberation Day for the American economy, and on Thursday, 3^rd April 2025 Top 500 companies lost around US$ 2,500 billion and the stock market crashed.

Major Loser

These seven companies are called the Seven Magnificent. Their revenue and No of employees working under them is given below:

Collectively, they lost US$ 1,000 billion due to Trump’s Tariff war. The American so-called war against terrorism proved a disaster, and America lost US$ 6,000 billion, its reputation, and paved the way for a multi-polar world as a unipolar world led by a blind power was disastrous. Now, Trump’s Trade War is also proving disastrous.

Trump imposed 25% tariffs on car and Car parts imports. American car company Stellantis immediately laid off 900 workers. It paused its production in Mexico and Canada and shut down two plants, one in Mexico and the other in Canada. S&P lost US$ 2,400 billion in market value in just one day, which is the biggest since 2020. Apple’s cost could go up US$ 40 billion every single year.

Trump’s Tariff war also affected Airlines, and major Airlines’ shares fell in the following manner:

We are living in the globalization era.For example, a T-shirt might be designed in Los Angeles, stitched in Cambodia, dyed in Vietnam, and shipped via Singapore. Thus, this Trade war will affect each nation.( To be Continued )