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A customer shops at a supermarket in Arlington, Virginia, US on August 14, 2024. Photo: VCG

 
US President-elect Donald Trump's tariff approach has drawn criticism both at home and internationally for its potential to raise consumer prices and disrupt global trade.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden called Trump's tariff approach "a major mistake," the Xinhua News Agency reported.  

"He seems determined to impose steep universal tariffs on all imported goods brought to this country on the mistaken belief that foreign countries will bear the cost of those tariffs rather than the American consumer," Biden said in a speech at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Brookings Institution, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

"Who do you think pays for this? I believe this approach is a major mistake. I believe we have proven that approach is a mistake over the past four years," said Biden, according to the report. 

At a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also warned that Trump's plans to impose new tariffs of 60 percent on Chinese imports and 10 percent to 20 percent on goods from elsewhere would "raise prices significantly for American consumers and create costs pressures" on companies," Reuters reported.

"So it would have an adverse impact on the competitiveness of some sectors of the US economy and could significantly raise costs to households," Yellen added. "So this is a strategy I worry could derail the progress that we've made on inflation and have adverse consequences on growth," according to the report. 

In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump said he would fulfill a campaign promise to levy tariffs on imports from the US' major trading partners, saying that tariffs "cost Americans nothing," but he also said he "can't guarantee anything."

A Chinese expert argued that imposing additional tariffs would not resolve US economic challenges and could hinder global trade, disrupting global supply chains.

Adding additional tariffs on Chinese goods would undermine efforts to control inflation in the US, creating new risks for the US economy, Song Guoyou, a deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

The primary issue for the US economy is inflation, and Chinese exports have helped lower US inflation, benefiting the US economy, Song said. 

The proposed tariff increases, along with existing tariffs on Chinese products, are seen as decisions prioritizing political interests over national economic interests, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Gao said that US high tariffs on Chinese products have impacted bilateral trade. However, US consumers still rely heavily on Chinese goods, meaning a substantial portion of the tariffs on Chinese products is ultimately borne by US importers and consumers.

According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), trade between China and the US, China's third-largest trading partner, reached 4.44 trillion yuan ($612.4 billion) in the first eleven months of this year in yuan-denominated terms, up 4.2 percent year-on-year. In breakdown, China's export to the US expanded 5.1 percent year-on-year to 3.38 trillion yuan in January-November period, the GAC data showed. 

A report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics corroborates this view, noting that the revenue from tariffs on Chinese imports primarily comes from US importers, not China. The institute also stated that the tariffs have not generated significant tax revenue, contradicting Trump's claims of financial gains for the US.

Previously, Trump stated on the social media platform Truth that he would "charge Mexico and Canada a 25 percent tariff on ALL products coming into the United States" and impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods above current levels.
 
These remarks have sparked international opposition. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a speech at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce on Monday that Canada would "respond to unfair tariffs in a number of ways" and that "we were able to punch back in a way that was actually felt by Americans," Bloomberg reported.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned on November 27 that Mexico would retaliate if Trump followed through with his proposed 25 percent tariff, a move her government estimates could cost 400,000 US jobs and drive up consumer prices in the US, Reuters reported.

China's position against unilateral tariff measures has been consistent. The US should abide by WTO rules and work with China to promote the stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, He Yadong, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference on November 28.