The New York Times (NYT) criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for using tariffs as a tool to compel other countries to make large-scale investments in the United States.
On the 4th (local time), NYT noted, "Trump's trade policy is similar to his 'transaction' approach," adding that "basically, if trade partners do not offer money in the form of investment commitments, they will face astronomical levels of tariffs."
NYT cited negotiations with Korea, Japan, and the European Union (EU) as examples. President Trump mentioned on social media (SNS) on the 30th of last month that he is interested in hearing the proposal from the Korean government delegation to lower tariffs, stating, "Korea is currently facing a 25% tariff, but they have a proposal to lower the tariff by offering money."
During the meeting mentioned on SNS, President Trump secured a promise of $350 billion in investment and $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases from Korea and lowered the reciprocal tariff on Korea to 15%.
Earlier, Japan announced it would create a $550 billion investment fund for the U.S., and the EU also indicated that European corporations were ready to invest at least $600 billion, succeeding in lowering tariffs.
Trade experts are questioning whether President Trump is negotiating with trade partners or negotiating with trade hostages regarding this negotiation approach.
Scott Lincicome, deputy director of the Cato Institute, noted, "This is undoubtedly a kind of global shakedown," emphasizing that "it is true that Trump uses tariff policy to effectively impose such conditions on countries that are not willing to comply."
Unlike tariffs, it is not easy to monitor the enforcement of investment and purchase commitments. The EU has no authority to mandate the investment promised to the U.S. to its corporations, and most of the investments promised by Japan are in the form of loans.
Due to the lack of specific details regarding the investment commitments, confusion has already arisen. The Korean government explained that the $350 billion investment in the U.S. is in the form of loans and loan guarantees, but the U.S. government stated that 90% of the investment revenue goes to Americans.