WASHINGTON, D.C. – The world is responding to the Trump administration’s tariffs. Experts said this will hurt our relationships abroad but the State Department said otherwise.
“President Trump called it liberation day, and I will call it inflation Day,” said Bernd Lange, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade.
Friend or foe, no one, including remote Arctic islands whose populations are penguins, not people, was spared from the President’s universal tariffs. The reaction for the most part has not been warmly received by global leaders.
“Tariffs are not the best news, but I hope this is an opening to a fruitful negotiation,” said Elina Valtonen, Finland’s Foreign Minister.
Others are responding with counter tariffs, including Canada, one of our largest trading partners.
“We will fight to bring each of these tariffs to an end,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“I think it will have a big impact on our relationships with other countries,” said Randy Allen, a senior lecturer at Cornell University. “I think in many cases other companies will look at other places to buy their goods, reducing the amount we’re selling. Farmers are very concerned because they do sell a lot of products overseas that the amount they’re able to sell will go down.”
The President’s argument for rolling out these tariffs are to protect the American worker and putting national security first. However, Allen argues it will be consumers who ultimately pay the price.
“For the American consumer it’s going to be very trying and they’re going to be spending a lot of time looking at other places around to get the things they want or need at prices they can afford, particularly on the lower income level,” added Allen.
Allen said in the past, tariffs have been used before to protect an industry but in a more delicate approach. Allen adds the blanket approach could be harmful.
“You’re presuming you’re gonna build manufacturing but if you’re gonna build another car plant its going to take time and energy,” said Allen. “You’ve got to hire the right people, you gotta figure out how can I manage this complex supply chain where they have parts coming from around the world.”
The State Department argues these will build better relationships.
“There’s a golden rule in trade: t treat us how you want to be treated,” said Tommy Pigott, Deputy Principal Spokesperson with the State Department. “Treat us how we treat you and ultimately, we’ve seen trade barriers in other countries that have adversely affected US products in the United States and in other [inaudible]. This leads to stronger alliances when we have a stronger trading balance. It leads to a stronger America it will improve our relationships with other countries because we’ll have that strength here at home.”
