Reference News Network, February 23 report: The U.S. "Wall Street Journal" website published an article titled "Trump Loses on Tariffs, but the Trade Landscape Will Be Forever Changed" on February 21. The author is Ye Weiping. The following is a compilation:

U.S. President Trump has three more years in office. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on February 20 that his tariff actions were illegal, giving the world a glimpse of what America's trade policy might look like long after Trump leaves office.

The future trade policy will be more orderly, less driven by impulse and retaliation, and more focused on distinguishing allies from adversaries.

But it will never return to the situation before 2025, let alone the state in 2017 when Trump first took office. The liberalization of trade and lofty principles that once drove U.S. trade policy no longer exist. In their place is an unstable balance between tariffs and trade agreements. U.S. trade has moved toward a more enduring form of protectionism.

In Trump's first presidential term, his tariff policies were targeted. He used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to impose tariffs on industries deemed vital to national security, such as steel. These tariffs went through legal challenges and paved the way for new trade agreements with Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Canada.

In his second presidential term, he adopted a comprehensive approach. Last April, he even imposed tariffs as high as 125% on a global scale.

He claimed that under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as long as he declared a national emergency, he could indefinitely raise tariffs on any country for any reason. During his first term, his trade team rejected this approach, considering it too risky legally and politically.

He came up with new tariff schemes almost every week. He threatened Colombia with tariffs if it refused to accept deported immigrants. He imposed tariffs on Brazil, which had sued its allies, former president Bolsonaro. He also threatened to impose tariffs on countries he accused of trying to replace the dollar as the reserve currency.

No president would easily give up the large revenue generated by tariffs each year. Tariffs are almost certainly going to create some jobs and factories in the next three years. This will create a group defending tariffs, especially in key industries such as steel and automobiles, and swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

At the same time, both parties in the United States have moved away from the free trade stance. Republicans in the U.S. Congress generally support open trade, but their support has weakened compared to Trump's first term.

When I asked some establishment Republicans about the future trade policy, they said that it would no longer have Trump's impulsive and mocking tendencies or the tendency to mix enemies and allies. But the future trade policy will still emphasize the principle of reciprocity. That is, punishing countries that impose tariffs, taxes, and regulatory measures against the United States.

Democrats have also begun to oppose open trade. Former President Biden retained all the tariffs Trump imposed on China during his term, and his subsidies for green technology manufacturing in the U.S. have angered Europe and Japan.

Some people within the Trump administration are considering whether to reach an agreement with Democrats to legislate some tariffs.

All of this explains why other countries in the world did not wait for Trump to leave office, but instead began to adapt to the new reality. German Chancellor Merkel said at Munich that major powers like the United States "exploit the dependence of other countries and gain undue benefits from them when necessary." She said, "Therefore, we are reducing dependence and vulnerability." (Translated by Zhao Feifei)

Original source: toutiao.com/article/7609982982786433599/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.