This financial expert has a unique 'egret-buffalo' idea to save world from recession, market turmoil, tariff war

Markets were caught off-guard this week when former US President Donald Trump announced an immediate 125% tariff on all Chinese imports. “Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World's Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump declared.

He did not hold back. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”

This sharp escalation in the long-running US-China trade conflict came with a strategic twist. Over 75 US trading partners were spared from new tariffs—at least for now. Mexico and Canada, both key players in the USMCA trade pact, avoided the worst. However, non-exempt items from these neighbours will still face duties of up to 25%, and some Canadian energy and fertiliser products will attract a 10% tariff.

‘It’s a negotiation, not a crisis’: Shrivastava

While global investors scrambled to assess the fallout, Akshat Shrivastava, an Indian startup founder and well-known voice on economic trends, urged calm.

“US needs to buy things from China (it can provide stuff at the cheapest price for best quality). China needs to sell things to the US (it has a great customer base). This is a symbiotic relationship like: Egrets and Water Buffalo,” he wrote on X.

His analogy of interdependence cut through the noise. According to Shrivastava, the tariff hike is not a sign of breakdown—it’s bargaining in public view.

“2020 was a genuine crises. Within a few months, the markets (after falling) made an all-time-high. 2025 is a manufactured crisis. People have been saying a lot of stuff. At the end of the day: it is a giant negotiation, not really a crisis,” he wrote in another post on Monday.

Echoes of 2008 and 2020? Not quite

Some have likened the current market jitters to the financial meltdowns of 2008 or the pandemic-induced panic of 2020. But Shrivastava pushed back against those comparisons.

“Markets can remain uncertain. But, you can't compare this to 2020 or even 2008 recessions,” he noted.

He acknowledged the drama and unpredictability surrounding global trade policy under Trump but warned against overreacting. “Uncertainty and egos” are part of the process, he said, not evidence of collapse.

A familiar playbook with higher stakes

This isn’t the first time Trump has used tariffs as a tool to pressure trade partners. His administration’s earlier rounds of tariffs on Chinese goods between 2018 and 2020 had similar aims—rebalancing what he called an unfair relationship.

What makes this round different is the scale and speed. A 125% tariff, applied overnight, signals a harder line and potentially deeper consequences across electronics, machinery, and consumer goods.

However, the exemption of over 75 nations—framed as a reward for “cooperation”—suggests Trump’s administration is isolating China more deliberately than before.

Behind the threats and counter-threats lies a basic economic reality: the US and China are each other’s largest trade partners. Their industries, supply chains, and consumers are deeply intertwined.

Shrivastava’s view reflects this. The language may be blunt, but the message is balanced. For all the noise, the fundamentals of trade—demand, supply, and mutual gain—still hold.

For now, the markets may sway, but as Shrivastava reminds us, this may be more about posturing than permanent rupture. The real test will be how long the standoff lasts—and who blinks first.