Tariff war against world will likely make US fall again

Although the United States administration has tried to make the additional tariffs it is imposing on countries look somewhat lenient by calculating them based on how each country taxes goods from the US, and making the rates lower than the "reciprocal" level the US president threatened, the impact of the tariff hikes announced on Thursday will nonetheless be comparable to the country dropping a nuclear bomb on the world trade system, as some observers have said.

The US leader eyes what he describes as "discounted" tariffs as a quick-fix for the US' chronic economic woes. But that is actually a mission impossible. The ramifications of the move will be profound as the US' trade aggression will necessarily prompt retaliatory measures from those countries hit by the castigatory tariffs, seemingly imposed on them for having the affront to trade with the nation.

The US will soon find itself caught on a horn of dilemma of its own making, as it will not be immune to the effects. The shock waves will be felt throughout the multilateral trading system, and the operational costs of the world economy will soar. The protectionist, unilateral and bullying tariff policy, which will have a boomerang effect on the US economy, will not address the US' trade deficit nor federal deficit, nor will it revitalize US manufacturing, which is simply a crumb of hope thrown to those supporters struggling to make ends meet.