US media: ‘Disaster’ of Trump’s trade policies
US media: In an editorial headed “[12 billion payout to farmers is a tariff-based disaster,” the Southern California News Group (SCNG) said that a bailout that was announced earlier this month demonstrated the shortcomings of the Trump administration’s trade policy.
“If President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade wars are so great for the American economy, then why does he have to shell out, as he did this month, $12 billion to farmers adversely affected by tariffs and trade wars?” was the opening question of the editorial, which was written by the SCNG Editorial Board.
“The straightforward response is that tariffs and the trade disputes they spark are never beneficial to our economy or the economies of any other nation. “Only the American consumer is subject to these extra taxes, as if we needed them,” it said on Sunday.
The opinion post claimed that tariffs are no longer a major source of government income in the age of globalization and characterized Trump’s tariff calculations as essentially incorrect and his knowledge of international commerce as out of date.
According to Jay Shambaugh of the Brookings Institution, Trump’s trade war would be catastrophic for the US economy since it would harm consumers, the nation’s most productive companies, hinder economic development, and erode US ties abroad.
The $12 billion compensation to farmers was portrayed in the editorial as an unjust policy intended to cover up issues that the government had caused.
Given that a large portion of the funds would go to producers of so-called “row crops” like soybeans, many of which had been easily sold to trading partners prior to Trump’s trade war, it questioned the administration’s attempt to address a problem rooted in its own trade policies, according to Xinhua news agency.
“Not every member of the already suffering American agriculture sector that is negatively impacted by tariffs will benefit from it. According to tractor manufacturer John Deere, tariffs will cost the company $600 million in 2025, the editorial said.
Eleven daily publications spanning five counties in the greater Los Angeles area are part of the Southern California News Group, an umbrella organization for local daily newspapers.