Tariff mirage and Korea-US summit

History warns us. When Rome, the British Empire and Qing China faced decline, they all turned inward. Protectionism, rising tariffs and the breakdown of alliances marked the beginning of their long retreats from global leadership. Today, the United States under President Donald Trump may be approaching a similar inflection point with the U.S. Trade Representative proclaiming the end of the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime and the advent of the “Trump Round” as a new phase in global trade. Trump recently hailed a dramatic reduction in the U.S. trade deficit — down to $60.2 billion — as a triumph of his tariff policy. But a closer look reveals this to be an illusion, not a success. A statistical mirage The drop in the trade deficit is largely the result of inventory effects. Following Trump’s tariff threats, companies rushed to import goods in advance, stockpiling massive inventories. That front-loaded import surge in late 2024 inflated trade deficits to record highs, peaking at $140.5 billion in March 2025. Since then, U.S. imports have plummeted, not because of economic strWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times