The U.S.-China tariff war had just pressed the "pause" button for less than half a month, and Trump's "tariff card" is being played again? Trying to bring allies on board to expand the team and launch a joint tariff against China.

The G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting

According to the Observer Network report, the three-day G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting has concluded in the Banff town of Canada.

In the beginning, it was widely believed that the tariff issue would be the focus of this meeting. However, the final result was an untidy conclusion with a joint statement downplaying tariffs, perhaps trying to "cover up the problems".

It is worth noting that foreign media have keenly noticed that US Treasury Secretary Basenett was "unusually low-key" during this meeting, which does not conform to the usual style of the US side.

However, some US officials disclosed a piece of information: Basenett and other US officials have privately proposed the idea of "unified tariff policy towards China", which means that the US wants to bring allies "on board" to attempt to launch a joint tariff against China in order to force China to make concessions in trade negotiations.

Just that at this meeting, the US did not bring it up on the table, but they indeed had such intentions.

US Treasury Secretary Basenett

Based on known information, we roughly sorted out that the US wants to bring allies on board to deal with China, but the other six members of G7 may have different opinions, especially the EU wanting the US to join sanctions against Russia. From this, we can see obvious differences between the US and its allies.

In response to various speculations from outside, the US Treasury Department finally only said this sentence: refused to comment on the "unified tariff policy", which is a completely evasive statement.

Moreover, in the joint statement of this G7 finance ministers' meeting, the topic of "China" completely disappeared. The word "trade" was mentioned only once and did not involve tariffs, deliberately avoiding it, which is also unusual.

And when the US wanted its allies to "take sides", it still used tariffs to put pressure on its allies. This "America First" double standard approach will likely reach the peak of the trust crisis within G7.

According to the EU, the EU is still attempting to push for wording criticizing US tariff policies to be added to the statement in private.

In fact, this is not the first time that the US has made such plans. The US has always tried to consolidate its hegemonic status and take various means to suppress potential competitors, with China being one of its main targets.

Since Trump's return to office, protectionism has resurfaced. The reason given by the US is nothing but the so-called "unfair Chinese trade practices", but as the saying goes, benevolent people see benevolence, and wise people see wisdom; this is just an excuse found by the US.

If US allies blindly follow the US in imposing tariffs on China, they will also be affected. Even the US itself has been "counterattacked". Imposing additional taxes on China is equivalent to smashing their own bowls.

It is worth mentioning that the EU and Japan recently announced that they would impose taxes on small parcels from China. Perhaps there is an American factor involved, but whether they truly want to stand together with the US to deal with China remains uncertain.

This time, the US proposal for a "unified tariff policy towards China" at the G7 finance ministers' meeting was shelved, which largely indicates that the US allies are not entirely following the US "lead horse". In front of economic interests, each country has its own considerations.

And the US strategy of attempting to launch a trade war against China through alliances has not succeeded easily either.

In fact, in the face of Trump's unpredictability, China had already spoken frankly a few days ago, never holding any illusions about the US side. No matter what moves the US makes, China will definitely see them through to the end.

In today's globalization, economies of various countries are interdependent. There are no winners in a trade war. However, the Trump administration stubbornly persists in its ways, unable to abandon prejudice and pressure, walking further down the path of unilateralism and trade protectionism.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7507561896434909731/

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