Irrational behavior of US increases risk of recession

Editor's note: The United States recently announced it would further raise tariffs on Chinese goods, a move that highlights the nature of its trade bullying. Zhong Sheng, a columnist for People's Daily, comments:

According to Morgan Stanley, raising tariffs to 25 percent by the US would be enough to slow global economic growth to below 2.5 percent. Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgium-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, believes that the "weaponization of tariffs" by the US will not only lead to increased global trade barriers and a decline in trade volume, but also create a negative demonstration effect triggering vicious competition that drags the global economy into the mire.

The US administration has tried to undermine multilateral trade rules and sabotage the security of global industrial and supply chains, causing turbulence in the international financial market and impeding international trade and world economic growth. Their activities go against the trend of economic globalization and the principles of market competition, and have significantly increased the risk of a global recession. In an interconnected global economy, any attempts to promote decoupling and confrontation through protectionism and unilateralism are a deviation from reality and will not work. An article recently published on The New York Times website revealed the cruel reality that "Apple Inc tried to manufacture a small number of high-end computers in Texas, but could not find a supplier in the US to supply all the screws".

More and more people of insight point out that the irrational activities of the US administration, that are without any sense of justice and responsibility, have seriously damaged market confidence and triggered turmoil in the global financial market. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and other international institutions have repeatedly warned that if the trade war continues, it will have a greater impact on the global economy. At the recent G7 summit, leaders from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries expressed deep concerns about the economic and trade frictions provoked by the US. European Council President Donald Tusk warned that escalating trade tensions between the US and other countries will likely plunge the world into recession.

It is an irreversible trend that multilateralism will replace unilateralism, and win-win cooperation will replace zero sum policies. If some in the US continuously attempt to stop this trend, it will undermine not only the interests of China and the US, but also the interests and well-being of the people all over the world.