Tariffs Won't Bring US Allies On Board Against China
There are smarter ways to address the national-security risks posed by the mainland’s trade practices.
Tariff target.
Photographer: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has cast the White House’s chaotic assault on world trade as a rational strategy — to negotiate fairer trade with other nations first, then together pressure China into concessions. He’s right about one thing: The US can’t address Chinese mercantilism without allies. But tariff blackmail isn’t the way to enlist them.
While countries are indeed desperate to evade threatened “reciprocal” duties — currently suspended until July — that doesn’t mean they’re about to join a US-led campaign to isolate China. Smaller nations can’t afford to alienate what is for many their top trading partner. The European Union and other larger players aren’t thrilled about undermining the rules-based trading order, which even Chinese leaders profess to support. Most important, no one can be confident that policy in Washington won’t shift again on a whim. The administration already appears to be buckling a little in its confrontation with China, under pressure from plunging markets and irate US executives.