HOUSTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Trade barriers are "detrimental" to both consumers and workers, a U.S. economic expert told Xinhua on Wednesday commenting on the recent trade tension between China and the United States.
"Economists generally believe that tariffs or other trade barriers are detrimental to consumers, as they increase the prices of goods consumed domestically," said Nitya Pandalai Nayar, an assistant professor in the department of economics at the University of Texas in Austin.
"Recent research has highlighted that policy uncertainty can also have negative welfare effects for consumers," she said.
Nayar also said recent research showed that workers would face a difficult period of adjustment in response to trade shocks.
"There is a broad consensus among economists that there are aggregate gains from trade, and in that sense, trade barriers are detrimental to consumers and the aggregate economy," Nayar said.
When asked about the trade deficit between the United States and China, Nayar said there is some common misunderstanding on such an issue.
"One must be very careful in interpreting such bilateral trade deficits. For instance, a large share of Chinese exports to the U.S. are because of processing trade. In that case China would actually import a large portion of the value of the export," she said, noting that the U.S. has a bilateral trade deficit with China in only goods trade, and not in services trade.
The U.S. administration on Tuesday announced a proposed list of products subject to additional tariffs, which covers Chinese exports worth 50 billion dollars with a suggested tariff rate of 25 percent.
China on Wednesday hit back at U.S. unilateralism with equal tariff plan, unveiling a list of products worth 50 billion dollars imported from the United States that will be subject to higher tariffs, including soybeans, automobiles, and chemical products.
The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to impose additional tariffs of 25 percent on 106 items of products under 14 categories, China's Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
