Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

Amid widespread concerns across the international community regarding Washington's tariff policies,MKS sports US officials still cling to their stubborn stance, defending these measures with implausible arguments. This reflects a blatant disregard for fundamental economic principles and a selective ignorance of the potentially disastrous impacts on the global economy.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday asserted that tariffs can be "an important source of government revenue, which can help fund investments," according to Reuters.

He also cited tariffs as a tool to correct and manage internal imbalances in other economies, warning that China could not be allowed to export deflation to major Western economies.

However, such rhetoric, which cannot withstand any scrutiny from the perspectives of fundamental economic logic and the actual operation of the global economy, is nothing but a desperate attempt to justify actions that are detrimental to both the US and the global economic order.

His viewpoint overlooks the complex impacts of tariff policies at the macroeconomic level. While it is true that tariffs generate immediate income for the government, their long-term economic costs far outweigh these fleeting gains. 

When the US imposes tariffs on imported goods, the prices of these goods rise immediately. This increase in consumer costs dampens purchasing power, leading to a decline in demand for goods. Given that consumer spending is a critical driver of the US economy, this reduction in demand has a ripple effect across multiple sectors. Over time, this creates a vicious cycle of economic stagnation. At this point, the revenue from tariffs is simply unable to make up for the huge losses caused by a recession.

Financial markets are often the first to judge the economic outlook. Treasury yields slid to their lowest levels of the year on Tuesday, as yields on 10-year US bonds fell below 4.30 percent. "The narrative shifted on Monday, from 'the new US administration isn't yet delivering on our pro-growth expectations' to 'US policies may be starting to cause real economic damage,'" Bloomberg strategist Mark Cudmore said, according to a Bloomberg report. 

This shift in market sentiment underscores the growing awareness that US tariff policies cannot deliver their promised benefits as the nation is dragging the world into a dangerous "zero-sum game" that will ultimately leave the US itself trapped in an economic quagmire.

The global economy is a complex, interdependent system. The belief that the US can unilaterally "correct" imbalances through tariffs is a gross oversimplification. Tariff policies may protect domestic industries in the short term, but in the long term, they drive up the cost of the global supply chain. This misguided approach reflects a zero-sum mindset that is increasingly out of step with the realities of globalization.

In particular, the rhetoric about China "exporting deflation" reveals the narrow understanding and malicious misinterpretation of global economic cooperation by some in the US. As a major global manufacturing power, China has always been committed to providing the global market with a rich variety of reasonably priced goods. In the process of globalization, China has provided high-quality and inexpensive products to countries around the world, meeting the needs of consumers in various countries and alleviating global inflation pressure.

Compared with China's contribution to the world, the US has actually been the main source of global economic instability and rising financial risks in recent years. 

Washington's tariff policies and its monetary policy are essentially transferring domestic policy costs by leveraging its monetary, trade and financial hegemony. As the US dollar is a global reserve currency, its strong position alleviates imported inflation pressure in the US. However, this alleviation comes at the expense of the economic interests of other countries. A strong US dollar means the relative depreciation of other countries' currencies, exacerbating the economic vulnerability of other countries, especially for those that rely on exports.

If the US continues to adhere to this tariff policy with a zero-sum mindset, it may prolong the global inflation cycle, risking the fragmentation of the global economy into competing blocs. The longer the US persists in this self-defeating approach, the harder it will be to extricate itself from the economic consequences of its behavior.