FT: Trump Overstates Tariffs’ Power as Global Economic Weapon

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump is overestimating the effectiveness of tariffs as a coercive economic tool, arguing they are “a far weaker weapon than the president believes,” Edward Fishman, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, wrote in the Financial Times on Thursday.

Fishman, author of Chokepoints, noted that Trump’s tariff strategy is built on the belief that “access to the US market is so vital that other countries will do anything to preserve it,” allowing Washington to use trade barriers as leverage to enforce political outcomes.

However, the article argues that Trump’s claimed “victories” over the European Union, Japan, and South Korea reflect their security dependence on the United States, not genuine economic submission.

Brussels, for instance, reportedly accepted tariff concessions to secure Washington’s backing for Ukraine rather than due to economic pressure.

The strategy has proven ineffective with countries outside the US security umbrella. India, which faced a 50% tariff on exports in August to force it to curb Russian oil purchases, instead increased its imports, “openly defying Washington.”

Fishman wrote that the policy “misses the actual decision makers,” as Indian refiners continue to buy cheap Russian crude for profit, while tariffs hurt unrelated sectors such as textiles and seafood.

Moreover, demanding concessions directly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi has backfired politically, prompting him to visit China for the first time in seven years to meet President Xi Jinping.