President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on various countries aim to close trade loopholes that China has used to bypass duties, particularly through transshipment, in which goods are exported via a third country, according to American columnist and author Gordon Chang.
Under this method, Beijing will ship its goods to the United States through another country and change the bill of lading to indicate they came from that country, he stated.
Chang said that Trump’s tariffs will close that loophole and prevent other countries from helping China to bypass them.
“A number of countries have been involved in this. It’s fraudulent,” Chang told host Jan Jekielek. “So what Trump is doing is, in a sense, ending that system. And that’s a good thing because we need to regularize trade.”
This included a 34 percent reciprocal tariff on Chinese imports, bringing the total tariff on China to 54 percent. Trump said the measures are necessary to restore trade balance. He has accused other countries of taking advantage of the United States through unfair trade practices.
Chang acknowledged that many people may not favor the imposition of tariffs, but he said that it’s “virtually inevitable” given the “failure to enforce the norms of the previous system.”
“It makes a lot of sense when you want to make sure that nobody can evade these rules,” he said. “China has been very good at evading it. It’s not only the fraudulent bills of lading that we just talked about, but it’s also building plants in other countries and then manufacturing and then shipping them into the United States.”
Chang said that the tariffs will ensure that U.S. importation rules—such as those targeting forced labor and trade manipulation—are properly enforced.
“What Trump has identified, and he’s absolutely right about this, is that some of the most predatory trade practices are those of our friends and allies. And so he decided to go after everyone at the same time,” he said.
While Chang indicated that he would have preferred the administration to take a different route, he emphasized that the most important thing is that the trade issues previous administrations “let slide for decades” are finally being addressed.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have triggered volatility in U.S. and global markets, with S&P 500 stock futures dropping 4 percent and Dow Jones declining 3.8 percent on April 6.
Despite this, Chang expressed optimism, saying that stock markets will typically bounce back after experiencing a sharp decline.
Beijing has imposed a 34 percent tariff on U.S. imports and placed export controls on certain types of rare-earth minerals in a retaliatory move against Trump’s tariffs.
