‘Outdated’ Trump tariffs threaten ‘global chaos’, says top Chinese economist

A prominent Chinese economist has warned that the world risks descending into a law of the jungle era, stressing that no single nation’s domestic rules should supersede international norms because that would undermine global fairness.

“The world appears to be sliding towards a ‘might-makes-right’ mentality – an alarming and irrational trend,” Wu Xiaoqiu, director of the National Institute of Financial Research at Renmin University said during a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia on Thursday.

“If every nation prioritises its own interests above all else, global chaos will inevitably follow.”

Wu added that rising anti-globalist sentiment – as seen in tariff increases by “some certain country” – has had a negative impact on China’s economy and dealt a severe blow to global economic recovery.

United States President Donald Trump has said he will impose reciprocal tariffs on the country’s trading partners next Wednesday – which he has described as “liberation day for America”.

Wu criticised high tariffs as “an outdated approach” to protecting domestic economies, stressing the need to restore an efficient trade system grounded in comparative advantage, competitive cooperation and liberalised trade.

“Although the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been weakened, its fundamental principles should endure,” he said. “Future trade arrangements – whether bilateral, multilateral or regional – must still uphold core WTO values: low tariff burdens, transparent transactions and, most critically, a dispute resolution mechanism.”