Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce: It is almost impossible for the global trade system to "go back to the way it was"

【Caixin Global】 Since April 2025, the Trump administration in the United States has continuously upgraded its “reciprocal tariffs” policy aimed at the global economy, repeatedly reversing course. On March 11, 2026, the U.S. again announced that, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, it would launch trade investigations into China, Mexico, the European Union, Japan, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, and more than a dozen other economies. After the investigations are completed, new tariffs may be imposed, replacing the tariff measures that were ruled illegal by the U.S. Federal Supreme Court in February of that year.

On March 24, at a sub-forum during the 2026 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Huang Gencheng, former deputy prime minister of Singapore, noted that due to intensifying geopolitical competition, global trade has entered a new stage. The uncertainty surrounding tariffs creates potential obstacles for global economic development, and may also trigger more trade frictions.