“Tariffs will significantly increase the cost of manufacturing in the US, and, when paired with the retaliatory tariffs that will surely come, will undermine US export opportunities as well,“ Lamar said.

　　China's potent countermeasures don't mean that a trade war is the only way forward, as Beijing stands ready to talk with Washington.

　　China urges the US to immediately correct its wrongdoing, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, stop its economic and trade suppression, and settle differences with China properly through dialogue on an equal footing and on the basis of mutual respect, the Commerce Ministry said.

　　Beijing is not alone in facing the Trump administration's “Liberation Day“ tariffs. The White House has dragged its own long-standing allies into the fray, including imposing additional tariffs as high as 20 percent on imports from the European Union, 25 percent on imports from South Korea and 24 percent on imports from Japan.

　　“By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business and as a market to invest capital,“ said Bill Ackman, a hedge fund titan who endorsed Trump's run for president.

　　“We will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,“ Ackman said in a post on social media platform X.

　　Ma Guangyuan, a senior economist, said the era of the US calling the shots and forcing countries to choose sides is over, as the US-led trade system is falling apart. However, this does not mean the end of free trade itself, as the global community still recognizes the benefits of open economic cooperation, Ma said.