国内英语资讯:Xinhua Headlines: Trade war produces no winner_时事

国内英语资讯:Xinhua Headlines: Trade war produces no winner

"When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win," Trump tweeted one day after the announcement.

But his optimism is shared by few. Noting that the potential for escalation of tensions is real, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said that "a trade war is in no one's interests."

"American trade protectionism -- even in the periods most often cited as 'successes' -- not only has imposed immense economic costs on American consumers and the broader economy, but also has failed to achieve its primary policy aims and fostered political dysfunction along the way," said Scott Lincicome, an international trade attorney.

"In no case can it confidently be said that American protectionism was a substantial cause of American prosperity or the flourishing of protected U.S. industries," he said in a recent study titled "Doomed to Repeat It."

Lincicome said import restrictions most often turn to abject failures, and impose massive costs on U.S. consumers, workers and companies without achieving their intended objectives.

"With increased U.S. integration into the global economy, and new U.S. trade agreement obligations, these historical failures would only be exacerbated today," said the trade expert.

For Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and the firm's chief economist, raising tariffs manifests the Trump administration's narrow fixation on an outsized bilateral trade imbalance with its partners, including China.