Tariff – a fun take : my article this week

you can read original article in Gujarati at : https://www.gujarat-samachar.com/લેખ/વિવિધા/ટેરિફ-પર-ટેરિફ,-ટેરિફ-પર-ટેરિફ

The most amusing thing happens when a king of a big country says something in the morning, changes his statement by noon and says something else in the evening. It is like a small child getting bored playing with a toy and throwing it away, this is the case with tariff rules. Today tariff on this, tomorrow exemption on that. On the last day tariff on that again!

Now is the era of ‘modern warfare’, in which ‘dollar’ is used instead of ‘bullet’ and ‘tariff’ is used instead of ‘bomb’. The very mention of this tariff makes the hearts of economists and businessmen tremble. But what about the consumers? The poor consumers are put in a situation where they are ‘beaten on both sides like a drum’.
How does this tariff war start? The king of a country comes on TV and says loudly, ‘Listen, people of this country! The traders of that country are imposing high taxes on our goods. Taxes on our so-and-so goods, taxes on our so-and-so goods, how is this? To take revenge for this, from now on we will also increase taxes on the goods of their country. Tariffs on tariffs, and then see who wins!’

Hearing this, the king of that country also gets angry. He also comes on TV and says, ‘Where are we lacking? If those people impose taxes on us, then we will also impose double taxes on them! Where are we afraid of anyone?’

And then what happens? This tariff war starts. The big country roars: ‘From today, this percentage of tariff will be imposed on this item! Who says our market is open? We will lock the doors of the open market, put an iron door on top, and put seven locks on it!’ And on hearing this, the stomachs of the traders of small and big countries were filled with anger. Some said, ‘Oh my god, now no one will buy our goods!’ Others said, ‘Here, we are getting better! The roar of trade will calm down.’

The funny thing about this tariff war is that no one dies by going straight to the battlefield, but the economy slows down. In the native language, it is as if a guest comes to our house and we tell him, ‘Guest, stay if you want to stay, but pay the daily rent!’ This rent is the tariff. Now, if this guest is good, there is no problem, but what if that guest is very expensive?

In this war, one country threatens another country, ‘If you don’t do this, we will stop importing these things!’ The other country also proudly says, ‘Then do it! Whose slaves are we?’ But deep down, both countries know that it is difficult to run without these things. This is a kind of ‘false threat’, which is meant to scare customers.
How does this tariff war end? Usually, both the kings get tired. Their people get tired too. Then one day one king says, ‘Come on, we have fought a lot. Now let’s settle it.’ And the other king also agrees. Then the tariffs gradually decrease, and goods start getting cheaper again. But by then, the pockets of the customers are empty and the merchants are bankrupt.

This is like a fight between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. Sometimes the mother-in-law gets angry, then the daughter-in-law gets angry. Sometimes the daughter-in-law gets angry, then the mother-in-law gets angry. But there is never peace in the house! There is no sign of peace in this tariff war either. One country goes to suppress another, another country threatens a third. And who is the loser in all this? Ordinary citizens and small traders! It is like ‘a soldier fights, a leader is called’. Leaders impose tariffs, and the people suffer the losses.
The economy is not something that can be run by one person as per their wish. It is like a complex machine, in which even a small screw goes bad, the whole machine stops. These tariffs are like such a small screw, which shakes the entire global economy.

Experts are scratching their heads as to what will be the outcome of this tariff war? Some say that this will not benefit anyone in the long run. Some say that this will increase uncertainty in global trade. But one thing is certain, as long as this ‘tariff war’ game continues, traders and consumers will remain in a state of confusion, ‘What will happen now?’ So let’s not take this unique war seriously. Because if we take it seriously, it will cause a headache. Sometimes we will worry, sometimes we will shake our heads, and sometimes we will say, ‘This is an everyday occurrence!’ Because in this world of politics and business, ‘The name of the car is the name of the road!’ The rest of the tariffs will keep coming and going, just like the seasons change!

Below is the physical newspaper cutting.