Trump Wields Faster and Indiscriminate Tariff Weapons: "Evolved from First Term" [Deglobalization? New Order!] ②

How Should We View the Current Situation?

"When a country (the United States) is losing billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win." (U.S. President Donald Trump, March 2018)

"There are no exceptions or exemptions for these tariffs." (President Trump, February 2025)

The United States' protectionist trade policy, using tariffs as a weapon, became faster, stronger, and more extensive during Donald Trump's second term than in his first. During his initial presidency, it was only in January 2020, his fourth year in office, that President Trump secured a promise from China to increase purchases of American agricultural, energy, and manufacturing products. However, this agreement fizzled out due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. After successfully returning to office, President Trump immediately implemented tariff measures targeting the entire world. The Trump administration went beyond simply weakening the World Trade Organization (WTO), a symbol of the free trade system, and outright declared its end. In doing so, the United States made its stance on free trade unmistakably clear to the world.

On September 18, Kang Insu, a professor of economics at Sookmyung Women's University, stated, "Unlike the first Trump administration, the second term's tariff measures were implemented rapidly, almost immediately after inauguration, and targeted not just China and a few countries, but the entire world." He added, "This approach is based on the judgment, informed by the first term's experience, that imposing tariffs more quickly, extensively, and forcefully serves U.S. national interests."

President Trump, who began his term on January 20, 2017, adopted "America First" as the core of his trade policy and emphasized restructuring trade practices due to "unfair trade" and large trade deficits. However, tariff measures did not come until his second year in office. In January 2018, the administration imposed tariffs of 30-50% on solar panels and washing machines, and in March, it decided to levy a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum from all countries. In response, China retaliated with its own tariffs, marking the official start of the U.S.-China trade war. This conflict was temporarily resolved in January 2020, when the U.S. and China signed the Phase One trade agreement, with China promising to purchase an additional 200 billion dollars' worth of American agricultural, energy, and manufacturing products between 2020 and 2021.

When the U.S.-China trade war broke out, President Trump unleashed harsh criticism against the WTO. In February 2018, he described the WTO as a disaster, claiming it prevented the U.S. from conducting proper business. In April of that year, he pointed out, "China, an economic powerhouse, is classified as a developing country by the WTO. China enjoys enormous privileges and advantages, especially compared to the United States. The WTO is unfair to the United States." He continued to suggest that the WTO was treating the U.S. unfairly and even hinted at withdrawing from the organization.

The reason for the United States' critical stance toward the WTO is that the organization itself symbolizes the free trade system. This distrust of the WTO exploded in 2018. At that time, the United States imposed additional tariffs of up to 25% on Chinese products, citing unfair trade practices such as intellectual property (IP) infringement and forced technology transfers. In response, China filed a complaint with the WTO, and in September 2020, the WTO ruled in favor of China, stating that the U.S. had violated WTO rules. The WTO determined that the U.S. had discriminated against China by imposing high tariffs solely on Chinese products compared to other WTO member countries, thus violating one of the key WTO principles: Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) treatment.

The United States objected, but the appeal process did not proceed. This was because, as of December 2019, the U.S. had effectively paralyzed the WTO's appellate body, which handles the final stage of disputes, by opposing the reappointment of its members.

Recently, the Trump administration delivered a decisive blow to the WTO. After regaining power, the administration implemented tariffs targeting the world, disregarding not only MFN but also National Treatment (NT), which prohibits discrimination between imported and domestic products. In doing so, the United States made it clear that it no longer recognized the WTO. Jamieson Greer, U.S. Trade Representative, declared, "We are now witnessing the Trump Round," announcing a U.S.-led reorganization of the global trade order centered on the United States.