By Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said the Trump administration’s tariffs are a result of a broad political and social movement that transcends economic goals, in rare central bank comments about politics.
The remarks were made in Himino’s speech on Tuesday that focused on the economy and risks, but included his “personal” observation on the philosophy of Trump’s policies – a rarity in BOJ speeches that typically stick to domestic themes.
The U.S. administration adopts a holistic approach that treats political, economic and cultural matters as “integral parts of a single, inseparable policy agenda,” he said.
Unfettered from conventional wisdom and orthodoxy, it also focuses on facts that define “the locus and sources of power,” and explores opportunities not yet exploited, Himino said.
For example, while textbooks on economics preach the benefits of free trade, a superpower like the U.S. may see more merits in imposing moderate tariffs as it has leverage to deter retaliatory levies from other countries, Himino said.
Deepening domestic social and economic divisions may also enhance relevance to the argument, made by some pundits, that an efficient economic system like free trade may not necessarily be ideal in achieving social fairness and redistribution, he said.
As such, President Donald Trump’s tariffs are a confluence of various elements like the need for better terms of trade, stronger economic security, a political agenda of fairness and distribution, as well as a “cultural protest against intellectual elites,” he said.
“Tariffs may thus be seen as a manifestation of a broad, transversal movement involving economics, diplomacy, politics, and culture,” Himino said.
Trump began imposing higher import tariffs this year on most trading partners, a move the World Trade Organization’s chief described on Tuesday as an “unprecedented” disruption to global trade rules.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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