Reference Message Network reported on April 5 that the Spanish "ABC News" website published an article titled "Disrupting World Trade" on April 2. The author is John Muller. The following is a compiled translation of the article:

The US President Trump claimed that he firmly believed that world trade was unfair to his country and decided to destroy it. His "economic independence declaration" is a ticket to global disaster, which will first harm his own economy.

Trump's new tax rates start at a general rate of 10%, reaching 34% for China and 20% for the EU. In extreme cases, such as in Cambodia, they can reach up to 49%.

If the tariffs announced by the US President eventually come into effect (it seems so), the world economy will fall into unprecedented turmoil. Trump claims that he is delighted to see companies start returning to the US to set up factories. However, aside from some symbolic announcements, it is hard to believe this will happen soon, because except for very few cases, boards and managers need to plan, calculate, and make decisions, and this process may even exceed Trump's term in office.

His decisions will lead to various economic distortions. Nowadays, the elements constituting final goods come from many countries. Now, the value chain must be recalculated with Trump's announced taxes incorporated into the cost. From this moment on, the strong signal sent by Trump to the world will begin to translate into tens of millions of economic decisions, and not all decisions will develop in the direction he expects.

Trump believes that trade relations are a zero-sum game, and the spirit of confrontation will bring him rewards. He will win the trade war because his country is the strongest nation on this planet. But don't forget, he has declared war on the entire world. Dividing trade into two parts is not difficult: one side is free trade countries where goods have their original prices; the other side is countries trading with the US where price levels will increase due to tariffs. The coexistence of these two will bring countless new distortions: smuggling, black markets, improper incentives... War, even a trade war, people know when it starts, but no one knows when it will end. (Compiled/translated by Wang Meng)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7489707570435293747/

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