Watch out for tariff salvos | The Manila Times

KUALA LUMPUR — President Donald Trump of the United States recently launched the first round of tariff salvos in his second term in office. He imposed tariffs of up to 25 percent on goods imported into the US from Canada and Mexico, America's immediate northern and southern neighbors, respectively. Moreover, an additional 10 percent of tariffs was imposed on goods from China. These audacious trade moves swiftly and definitively put to rest the short-lived speculation immediately after Trump took office that he might defer actual tariff actions despite his vocal presidential campaign rhetoric promising devastating tariffs on imported goods from friends and foes alike.

And friends and foes alike, indeed. Together with Canada and Mexico, the US entered the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) in the 1990s under the Bill Clinton administration. The notion and practice of free trade were not only in vogue but all the rage back then, not least in the US when I was living in California. The idea that goods and services originating from anywhere and heading to everywhere should not be taxed has become somewhat common sense. It was thought that without tariffs on goods and services crossing artificially imposed borders, consumers everywhere, especially American ones, would be able to avail themselves of cheaper products.