Global Media Focus | U.S. Media: U.S. Government's Tariff Policies Backfire, Hampering Global Tech Cooperation

April 2 last year, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order at the White House regarding the so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” announcing that the United States would impose a 10% “minimum baseline tariff” on trade partners, along with higher tariffs on certain trade partners.

One year later, the U.S. government announced another round of tariff actions—imposing 100% tariffs on some imported patent drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients, and adjusting the ad valorem tariffs imposed on imported steel, aluminum, copper, and related derivative products.

Violating WTO basic principles

Starting in April 2025, the U.S. government announced “reciprocal tariffs” that vary across different trading partners, which dozens of World Trade Organization (WTO) members explicitly pointed out is a move that _seriously violates the WTO most-favored-nation treatment principle_‌.

A screenshot from the U.S. political news outlet

In a recent article, U.S. political news outlet Politico said that the U.S. government’s global “tariff offensive” ignores key principles that have supported global trade for decades. The policy undermines the free-trade principles that have dominated the world for nearly 80 years, and fractures the global markets that multinational corporations long for.

Heightened tensions with allies

The article says that the U.S. government’s tariff policy damages trade relations between the United States and most of the other major economies around the world. Not only that, the U.S. government has also used tariff policy as leverage and a weapon to pressure other countries—ranging from attempting to “acquire” Greenland to the digital-policy standoff between the U.S. and Europe, covering everything.

The article also notes that the trade war launched by the U.S. government has prompted its traditional allies to reflect on their own reliance on the U.S. economy and trade relationships.

In March this year, European Commission President von der Leyen and Australian Prime Minister Albanese shook hands during the signing ceremony at the Canberra Parliamentary Estate. European decision-makers are building new trade relationships, gradually moving away from reliance on the U.S. trade relationship. (A screenshot from the Politico report)

Impacts the U.S. innovation industry, and curbs global technology cooperation

The article argues that the U.S. government’s tariff policy will disrupt its own innovation industry. According to data from the Congressional Research Service, in 2020, nearly three-quarters of U.S. innovation funding came from companies, and companies need overseas sales revenue to finance their innovation plans. Philip Luck, who previously served as Deputy Chief Economist at the State Department during the Biden administration and is currently in charge of the Economic Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., gave an example in an interview with Politico: “If sales revenue in the China market drops by $1 billion, that would mean $200 million in R&D funding would not be invested.”

The article also points out that the U.S. government’s tariff policy will have far-reaching effects on the entire technology sector. Originally, cross-border cooperation allowed breakthrough technologies to benefit a wider range of people. However, in the current tariff-war environment, it remains unclear whether technological progress can enable the same cross-border cooperation or achieve the same level of global impact.

The U.S. will find it difficult to earn other countries’ trust

In February this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the comprehensive tariffs announced by the government in April last year were unconstitutional, and the White House subsequently confirmed that some tariff measures would be terminated. Analysts believe that since the Supreme Court ruling, this administration has launched new trade investigations into the EU, the UK, Canada, and most of Asia, among other places—and these investigations may ultimately become the basis for additional tariffs in the future.

On April 2, the White House issued a statement. That day, President Trump signed a document under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, imposing 100% tariffs on some imported patent drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients, and adjusting the ad valorem tariffs imposed on imported steel, aluminum, copper, and related derivative products.

On April 2, the White House released a notice regarding the new tariff measures on U.S. pharmaceuticals (Source: White House official website)

An analysis in a Politico article suggests that the U.S. government’s tariff policy may bring huge and long-term costs to U.S. businesses and consumers. Philip Luck, head of the Economic Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said: It may take decades for the impacts and consequences of the current administration’s tariff policy to fully become apparent. These “costs” are much harder to quantify than tariffs, but they will inevitably have profound effects on the U.S. economic landscape.

The article also notes that after this administration tore up decades of trade agreements and discarded a series of economic policies and trade principles, it will be extremely difficult to get partners and allies to trust the United States again.

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