Us expert: Trump's tariff action is' illegal 'global economy is in danger

US President Donald Trump's tariff actions have been frequent since he took office, and US trade experts believe that his tariff measures are "illegal" under US law or any other international law.

Mr Trump's return to the White House has led the US on its toughest protectionist course since the second world war. He earlier signed an executive order imposing a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States. Jennifer Hillman, former vice chair of the U.S. International Trade Commission and co-director of the Center for Inclusive Trade and Development, said the move violates the obligations of the United States as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as free trade agreements with many countries.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Hillman said: "As a member of the WTO, the United States has promised that it will only collect tariffs according to the tariff schedule, which is the result of negotiations (with other countries) in which we reduce tariffs on certain products and you reduce tariffs on other goods." After years of haggling, the United States set the tariff schedule at some absolute value... For example, on steel products, the U.S. tariff rate is set at zero percent, so anything above zero is a violation of this binding tariff commitment."

Mr. Hillman acknowledged that under WTO rules, tariffs could be imposed if dumping or subsidies could be proved. The United States has frequently taken such actions against China, but what the rules do not allow is Trump's current action, which is to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum from all countries in the world, "which is absolutely contrary to our WTO commitments."

She also noted that the tariffs "also violate the commitments that the United States has made to its free trade partners," such as Canada, Mexico, Australia and South Korea, which are all large steel and aluminum suppliers with which the United States has free trade agreements.

Trump has long complained about U.S. trade deficits with countries that he believes take advantage of the United States. Hillman believes this actually reflects how strong the U.S. economy is. She agreed with many economists that Mr. Trump should not measure everything by whether the United States has a trade deficit with a country, and that focusing on trade deficits is a mistake.

In addition, Hillman is very concerned about the impact of tariff action on the global economic outlook. She noted that studies by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization clearly show that "if we continue down this path, dividing all countries into different trading blocs and erecting trade barriers, the resulting fragmentation alone could reduce global GDP growth by as much as five percentage points," she said. Many developing countries lose 10 or 12 percentage points of GDP growth. This is a dangerous path for economic growth, so the question for the whole world is how to find a way out."