Economist weighs in on fallout from Trump’s tariffs

The recent announcement of President Trump's tariffs has sent shockwaves through the global economy, with China quickly retaliating and global stock markets tumbling.

In a recent interview with Sky News Australia, an Economist at RMIT University Nataliya Ilyushina shared her insights on the impact of Trump's decision, the reactions from other countries, and the broader implications for global trade.

Ms Ilyushina explained that China's quick response to Trump's tariff announcement was both expected and logical.

"It's been a fascinating week economically, but the Chinese retaliation is only expected because it's a large country and quite aggressive with their international policy," she said.

[jerrypeal]

Seems countries hate tariffs unless it’s their tariffs.

[vinengling]

Is this really the best economist you could find?

[sedoff]

I love these economic experts”, the very ones that had no idea what was coming in 2008, giving their two cents worth. We, the USA, are no longer the piggy bank of the world. Reciprocity is reciprocity. The stock markets are not the economies. The sky will not fall, at least not on the USA.

[Mike-ooc]

Thereore worried about cats, dogs, and tariffs. How about the 300, 000 children that are missing in this hell hole!

[colonelklink]

Does a global depression count as a 7th bankruptcy?

🎪🎪🎪🤡🤡🤡🎪🎪🎪

[Golfing]

I can think of worse things than billionaires making less profit off of slave labor.

[drdoug]

Sorry, we have not had free trade at all. Maybe this will be a catalyst to actual free trade. Let’s see!!!

[MarkCroft-cy]

I lost my damn good job due to, NAFTA and CAFTA, even lost my home, due to no job stability here!

[bentfission]

If this causes so much fear and damage to the world economy then it shows how badly this needed to happen.

[gbala]

The US stock market was artificially propped up with Biden's reckless money supply anyway. This is a needed correction. Trump is deflating prices without a recession.

[bidensenile]

What fallout? Only fall out is the Stock Market. It falls and will rebound as quickly as it falls.

[blazenamber]

Free Trade? Wouldn't that mean zero on both sides?

[arthurh]

The thing is there never was a "free trade" system for decades. That is the whole premise of the reciprocal tariffs - make free trade free again.

[ramonrobinson]

Very balanced lady. Great to understand a level headed view like this. More of these interviews please.

[jackbourbon]

It has been just a couple of days and so many jumping on the doom train.

[Debbie-qxwh]

The mainstream media won’t tell you that trumps tariffs have a cripple, China 😂😂😂

[ursulaglissmann]

In 2024, U.S. imports from China totaled $438.9 billion, representing 13.4% of all U.S. imports and making China the nation's third-largest trade partner.

In 2024 Chinese imports from U.S. were $143.5 billion.

Now tell me who the tariffs will hurt more?

[bentfission]

I dont wanna hear about restrictions. We've given everybody the best deals they could ever hope for decades. Its been long overdue for us to produce products than to just buy it. This isnt WWII anymore and hasnt been for so long. Yet the world has demanded we operated as if it was still the case cuz we Americans helped everybody so they could recover from WWII. Thats the only reason, cuz it was a kindness. Its time we get our cake and eat it too.

[SusiBlumentopf]

When I visited my dad in US several times about 20 years ago, I was shocked. I wanted to buy me and bring home to Europe some souvenirs made in US. We went to several malls, but nothing could be found: no paper, no figurines, no toys, no clothing, no junk, no nice glasses, no simple paintings... all labelled "made in China". We found stuff then made in US - visiting the Amish and the Amish market in Pennsylvania. My Dad, by the way, was also shocked. At those days, we used to have still some US-cars here, e.g., small cars from Ford and Chevrolet, but the European cars got better and better, less gasoline, with filtered exhaust gases, better technology. They could no longer compete with the European market. Here, cars are taxed annually based on the emissions they produce and fuel consumption. Gasoline is also heavily taxed (for environmental reasons). This makes US cars too expensive. We also prefer manual transmission and smaller cars because the streets are narrow and parking spaces are limited. If US car standards were aligned with EU regulations, people would buy them. To go back to older standards will not help to sell them in Europe.

The same goes for food: some colors (a certain red and yellow) and chemicals, glyphosate, genetically modified meat, and soy are either banned here or not valued highly. You also can't force buyers to buy foreign products that nobody needs here, e.g., dairy products, wheat, corn, beef, pork... Europe has enough of these in overproduction itself.

All US companies that sell to Europe produce goods tailored to the market, e.g., Coca-Cola, Fanta (has a different composition, a different color, and much less sugar!), french fries, Oreos, Felix, Heinz, Ben's, McDonald's, and many others. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Google also have no problem selling their products. I wish some products I love were available more cheaply in Europe (peanut butter, some coffee brands, candy, pies, Cheeze it, some fruits...). I mean, a market economy means the customer buys what they want and what legally complies with the standards of the country, whether in the US or Europe. Chinese products that don't meet the European standards are also not allowed. Or, to protect domestic farmers and producers— who also want to survive — are taxed more heavily (e.g., India, Africa, were farmers relay on selling their products to survive!). Other countries on this planet have no food, produce no food, please sell this overproduced products there!

Furthermore, a distinction should be made between taxes that affect all goods sold (value-added taxes = VAT) and tariffs (which only affect imports). Value-added tax (VAT) in Europe is very high, up to 20 percent, and is imposed on all buyers, regardless of whether they purchase domestic or foreign goods. In the US, these taxes are much, much lower or even nonexistent. Additional taxes in Europe are levied on alcohol, cars, and luxury goods. It seems for me, President Trump is sometimes mixing that up together, crying "how unfair!".

Taxation: While the US expects everything to revolve around US laws, which tax all revenues of US-based corporations, in Europe only the revenues generated directly in Europe (!) are taxed, including Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. The US demands its own kind of taxation, and the Europeans demand theirs, and corporations thus pay twice. The US recommends that corporations simply not pay their European taxes, which leads to heavy fines, or that the corporations themselves reclaim them from the states. These taxes are not regulated by international treaties; rather, as mentioned, the US expects the entire world to follow the US, without treaties.

[saveamericanfreedom]

The investors are nervous because they don't know where to put their money. The average American citizen doesn't give a s***. The stock market will balance eventually let it fall.