JAKARTA - Economic observer from Andalas University (Unand) Syafruddin Karimi assessed that the high tariff policy continues to emerge as a tool of political and economic pressure between the United States and China.
Syafruddin said that the two countries are competing to impose trade barriers, as if they want to show firmness and protect domestic interests.
"Unfortunately, this policy failed to answer the core issue that entangled each other's economy. The higher rates actually made things worse, not solving problems," he said in his statement, Tuesday, May 13.
Syafruddin said that the United States is battling stubborn inflation, widening income inequality, and a living expenses that continue to pressure the middle class.
Meanwhile, China is facing a crisis in the property sector, prolonged deflation, and weak domestic consumption.
According to him, these problems were not born from free trade, and will not be resolved through tightening protectionists and tariffs only burden the wider community.
Meanwhile in the US, the price of consumer goods increases every time a new tariff is applied to Chinese products.
"For consumers, this means that spending is getting bigger for basic needs. For producers, input costs are also increasing because many industrial components come from global supply chains that are integrated with China. This effect hits competitiveness as well as exacerbates inflationary pressures," he said.
Meanwhile, in China, the return rate on US goods does not strengthen the domestic economy.
"The export sector weakened due to the loss of large markets. Meanwhile, tariff policies hinder imports of capital goods and high technology from developed countries, which are actually needed to increase productivity and encourage economic transformation," he said.
Syafruddin conveyed that the tariff was a rhetoric instrument that covered the failure to complete the domestic reform agenda.
As for the US, the discourse on tariffs is used to distract the public from the inability to reduce living expenses or expand the reach of health services.
Meanwhile, in China, tariffs are framed as a form of resistance to Western hegemony, even though the move ignores the urgent need to strengthen domestic demand.
He conveyed that jedua negara needed structural reforms, not higher trading walls.
He said the US should focus on strengthening social programs, improving the vocational education system, and progressive tax policies to reduce inequality.
Meanwhile, China must reorganize the social security system, expand pension protection, and build a fair tax system to encourage household consumption.
"By continuing to prioritize tariffs, the two countries are actually away from strategies that can provide long-term results. Without improving institutions and distribution, growth will remain fragile," he said.
Syafruddin said that the United States and China still have a chance to reverse course.
"The two countries should stop escalating tariff wars and start building dialogues on fairer and more transparent trade mechanisms," he said.
He said that WTO reform, multilateral cooperation, and environmental-based trade agreements and social justice could be common ground.
"On the domestic side, policies that side with the people must be a priority. The US needs to respond to public unrest over unaffordable prices, while China must create fiscal space to increase purchasing power and protect the younger generation who have lost hope," he said.
According to him, tariffs do not answer people's complaints, do not create quality new jobs, do not improve inequality or modernize the economy needed is political courage to rearrange priorities and leave a confrontational narrative.
"The high tariff does not carry a solution. Instead, it deepens old wounds and creates new wounds. The United States and China must stop using tariffs as the main tool for economic policy. Time to lay down tariff weapons and return to the negotiating table and reform channels," he said.
Syafruddin said the global economic recovery would only materialize if the world's two great powers were willing to lead not through feuds, but through long-term vision, structural reforms, and commitments to world economic stability.
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