Opinion | In the face of trade bullying, appeasement is not an option

The US administration claims that one reason for imposing the “reciprocal tariffs” is because it feels “ripped off” by China and other trading partners, citing its “large and persistent” trade goods deficits. The truth, however, is that the US remains the biggest beneficiary of global trade. Globalisation has brought big profits to American multinationals, offered American consumers a variety of inexpensive goods and bolstered the international standing of the US dollar.

In the case of China-US trade, while China runs a surplus in goods trade, the United States holds a considerable surplus in services trade. When trade in goods, trade in services and the local sales of domestic companies’ branches in each other’s countries are taken into full account, China and the US have benefited more or less equally from their two-way trade.