1. "Tariffs will make America richer"? The result is the largest trade deficit in history!

  2. On May 7, the South Korean media NEWSTREE published an article stating that US President Trump implemented a high tariff policy, claiming that tariffs would make America richer, but this has led to the largest trade deficit in history.

  3. The US Department of Commerce recently announced that the US trade deficit reached $140.5 billion in March this year, increasing by about 14% month-on-month. Exports were $278.5 billion, increasing by 0.2% month-on-month, while imports were $419 billion, increasing by 4.4% month-on-month, resulting in a significant expansion of the deficit.

  4. This is due to companies ensuring inventory in advance out of concern for the impact of Trump's tariff policies. Consumer goods imports increased by $2.25 billion month-on-month, and the import value of pharmaceutical products threatened with additional tariffs by President Trump surged by $2.09 billion compared to the previous month.

  5. In April, with the full implementation of reciprocal tariffs, the trade deficit was halved due to a reduction in overall imports, but there was still a deficit of $6.89 billion.

  6. Previously, President Trump confidently stated that the high tariff policy would make America richer, but recently, as prices rose and the trade deficit increased due to tariffs, he changed his stance, calling it a cost that must be borne to improve the US economic structure.

  7. At last month's cabinet meeting on the 30th, President Trump said, "Maybe children will have two dolls instead of 30, and maybe these two dolls will be more expensive than usual." He seemed to acknowledge concerns about prices. In fact, recently in the US, prices have continued to rise due to the impact of tariffs, and as President Trump metaphorically described, the Barbie doll manufacturer Mattel announced plans to increase the price of some toys.

  8. However, Trump believes that rather than revising tariff policies, people should be advised to give up cheap foreign products and consume moderately.

  9. Recently, when accepting an interview with NBC, President Trump said, "I just say they don't need 30 dolls, they only need five pencils, but they don't need 250." He continued, "We don't need to waste money on trade deficits with China for things we don't need." That is, low-priced Chinese products circulating in the US market are being classified as unnecessary items, and reducing the trade deficit with China is more important than immediate increases in consumer prices.

  10. There are voices saying that the public will not respond positively to the "attitude shift" of the Trump administration on the tariff issue. Mark Short, an advisor to former US Vice President Mike Pence, said, "I don't think this will get a good response. While the president earns billions through virtual currencies, asking people to reduce children's toys and supplies is hard to understand."

  11. Jared Bernstein, who served as chairman of the Biden administration's Council of Economic Advisers, also criticized, "I can hardly imagine how most Americans will feel when billionaires tell us we must 'lower our standard of living' to achieve a difficult-to-define and seemingly unattainable goal."

  13. Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831465474923528/

  14. Disclaimer: This article solely represents the views of the author.